Trinity Yachts Faces Down Gustav
When hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast weaker than predicted on Monday, you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief, especially from the management and staff of Trinity Yachts, which has two locations in the region. I contacted Billy Smith, vice president of sales and marketing, on Tuesday to find out exactly how the megayacht yards fared. The headquarters in Gulfport, Mississippi, had no flooding or other damage and never lost electricity, he says, and while the New Orleans yard did flood somewhat and lost electricity, the water level didn’t reach offices and “was nowhere the level of Katrina.”
Here’s what else he had to say, in his own words:
None of the 7 yachts under construction at the New Orleans yard appear to have suffered any damage due to the storm. We were back in the N. O. yard this morning (Tuesday) to evaluate the condition and plan to have the yard fully operational by Friday, Sept. 5. Most people do not realize that the shipyard is located outside of the city’s levee system and is above sea level. The yard has been in continuous operation since it was opened in 1941 as a Higgins shipyard and was only closed once for an extended period of time in 2005/2006 due to Katrina. During the rebuilding of the yard after Katrina we made numerous improvements in order to minimize damage and downtime from future storms.
The levees held and our workers have been spared the damage that Katrina did and therefore they will not have to relocate to find housing.
The yard improvements and updated hurricane preparation plans we incorporated after Katrina have proven to be very successful and worthwhile. The city and state also handled this storm 1000% better than they did during Katrina.
In conclusion, we are simply waiting on the mayor to let the population return to the city so that our workers can get back to work and finish MARY P and WHEELS.
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