MAY 2, 2017 – The Brownsville, Texas, ship recycling and scrap processing facility formerly known as ESCO Marine is reopening under new ownership.
Hilco Redevelopment
Partners, a unit of Hilco Global (Hilco), and MCM Marine Services, an affiliate
of MCM Management Corp. (MCM), acquired the assets in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
proceedings, presided over by Judge David R. Jones, following chapter 11 bankruptcy
proceeding filed in late 2015.
Hilco and MCM have formed a
joint venture company under the name SteelCoast (www.steelcoastus.com) with a
new management and operations team to begin running the business immediately.
SteelCoast will immediately
commence the work of dismantling the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS
Saratoga and former MARAD vessels Shenandoah and Yellowstone.
Hilco Redevelopment Partners
EVP and SteelCoast Board Member, Roberto Perez said, "Putting a deal
together to acquire and relaunch this unique ship recycling and scrap
processing business was complex, especially given the nature of the assets and
our goal of maintaining key U.S. Government client relationships. Following a
lengthy diligence process, we are confident that SteelCoast has a very
substantial growth path."
Rob Mardigian, CEO of MCM
and SteelCoast Board Member, said, "Hilco and MCM have become very
proficient at identifying new opportunities for industrial facilities that many
have viewed as too challenging to tackle."
SteelCoast will be one of
the largest and most technologically advanced reclamation, remediation and
recycling operations in North]America. The Brownsville, Texas facility, which
has already undergone over one million dollars in renovations and improvements,
will provide a complete end to end solution including recycling of large
oceangoing vessels (both military and non-military) from around the world.
SteelCoast will also dismantle decommissioned, idled or underutilized oil rigs,
train locomotives, railcars, as well as other industrial and commercial sources
of recyclable metals.
Additionally, SteelCoast
will process automobiles and other light metal products in its 4500 HP
shredder. These types of reclamation and recycling projects allow for the scrap
processing of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals during the dismantling
process.
SteelCoast will then work to
process and resell the scrap to be used in various other manufacturing
industries.
Hilco and MCM have installed
Mr. Kris Wood as CEO at SteelCoast and is in the process of adding an
experienced operations and management team.
Working with Mr. Wood over a
number of months, SteelCoast has developed a detailed business plan which
includes an investment in sales support to build upon its client base, which
includes contracts with the U.S. Navy and marketing and reselling of the
recycled materials. SteelCoast also has immediate plans to invest millions of
dollars more into the infrastructure, berths, technology and equipment to
ensure the facility is a leading state of the art, world class ship recycling
and scrap processing facility.
Mr. Wood has considerable
experience within the ship recycling and scrap processing industry. A lifelong
South Texas resident, he worked at the former company for over 12 years, adding
new management responsibilities throughout his career.
Mr. Wood has led several key
team projects over the years including oversight of key U.S. Navy and MARAD
initiatives.
Mr. Wood said, "I
understand that building a hardworking and trusted employee base is vital. I'm
excited that SteelCoast will bring back hundreds of jobs to the community which
knows this business well."
The company indicated that
it would have approximately 130 employees by the end of May 2017, with plans to
hire 80 – 90 more in the coming months.
Mr. Eduardo A. Campirano,
Port Director & CEO of the Port of Brownsville said, "We couldn't be
more pleased that Hilco and MCM will open its recycling facility and get
business going again at SteelCoast."
Source: marinelog.
02 May 2017
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