Two prominent ship repair yards at Port Tampa Bay in Florida are to merge.
Gulf Marine Repair Corporation and Hendry Corporation, both owned by Aaron Hendry, will combine their operations under the name Gulf Marine.
The Hendry Corporation is a longstanding fixture in the Tampa ship repair industry, dating to 1926 when it was founded by Aaron Hendry’s father as Shell Producers Company.
Gulf Marine came into being in 1988 when Hendry bought Gulf Tampa Drydock.
One immediate effect of the merger was the laying off of 25 staff, leaving the new combined entity with 295 employees. But a company spokesman said the potential for growth in the new company meant they expected to make up most of those staffing numbers in the coming year.
Gulf Marine has offered a range of ship repair services to commercial and government clients, services that include drydock construction, steel fabrication, stevedoring and marine terminal operations.
