Lehman News

With the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard FY 2025 budget requests offering uninspiring news for traditional shipbuilders, industry observers might be forgiven for checking out and dismissing 2024 as just another dull year in the frustrating business of government shipbuilding.But with an election season underway and an increasingly disorderly sea, the year may end up being far more exciting for industry than most U.S. shipbuilders expect.In fact, it might even be time to prepare for a “Remember the Maine” moment.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has held a tree planting ceremony in honor of the late John Angelicoussis who passed away in 2021.The ceremony included the unveiling ceremony of a plaque engraved with the picture of the former of Angelicoussis Group who is held in high regard by the shipyard particularly because he offered support whenever DSME was in need. This included support through the dissolution of Daewoo Group in 1998, the Lehman Brothers financial crisis in 2008, and the liquidity crisis that continued from 2015.Angelicoussis was born in Piraeus in 1948.

U.S.-based subsea mining company Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. announced it has expanded its executive and legal teams. On Monday, the firm's Board of Directors appointed Christopher "Chris" E. Jones as Chief Financial Officer and reappointed Jay Nudi as the company’s Principal Accounting Officer and Treasurer.“As we evaluated our strategic plans and every part of our business over the past year, it became clear that we needed to add specific expertise to our executive team to allow Odyssey to execute on its strategic plan,” commented Mark D. Gordon, Chairman and CEO of Odyssey. “Chris brings extensive experience in international business development…

As the traditional offshore oil and gas markets continue to struggle, the renewable offshore wind market is hot and getting hotter.As the cumulative maritime, offshore, port and logistics marketplace gears up for offshore wind energy on a huge scale, World Energy Reports (WER), in its report “2021 The Year When Offshore Wind Takes Off in the United States,” shows the anticipated growth trajectory. Service Operations Vessels (SOVs), which can commission and/or maintain turbines…

International Marine and Industrial Applicators, LLC (IMIA), a portfolio company of an investment affiliate of J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO), announced it has acquired Main Industries, Inc.Headquartered in Hampton, Va., Main Industries provides preservation, scaffolding and environmental containment services to the marine vessel new construction and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) markets. The company supports the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier new construction and MRO requirements (including refueling overhauls) in the Mid-Atlantic region…

Dutch offshore services provider Fugro has said it has received $17.3 million from the sale by Global Marine Group of a 30% stake in Huawei Marine Networks (HMN) to Hengtong Optic-Electric Co Ltd. The proceeds are in addition to EUR 34.0 million which Fugro received in the first quarter of 2020 from the divestment of its 23.6% stake in Global Marine Group, which was bought a J.F. Lehman & Company affiliate for an enterprise value of $250 million.The remaining 19% of Huawei Marine Networks that is under a two-year put-option agreement is expected to generate another $10-15 million for Fugro…

A U.S. Navy warship seized weapons believed to be of Iranian “design and manufacture,” including 150 anti-tank guided missiles and three Iranian surface-to-air missiles, the American military said on Thursday.In a statement, the military said the guided-missile cruiser Normandy boarded a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel, in the Arabian Sea on Sunday.“The weapons seized include 150 ‘Dehlavieh’ anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), which are Iranian-manufactured copies of Russian Kornet ATGMs…

US-based financial services company HC2 Holdings and the Dutch multinational provider of geo-intelligence Fugro have sold offshore engineering specialist Global Marine Group (GMG) to private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Company for a sum of USD 250 million.HC2 holds 73% of Global Marine Group’s shares, while Fugro holds 23.6% of the shares. Through its ownership of 23.6% in GMG, Fugro will monetize the remainder of its non-core interest in GMG, which is expected to result in proceeds for Fugro of close to USD 40 million.Global Marine Group is made up of the three business units Global Marine, Global Offshore and CWind. The company provides a wide range of engineering services to the oil & gas and wind energy industries.

British-headquartered specialist provider of submarine cables Global Marine Group (GMG) has been acquired by an investment affiliate of private equity firm J.F.

The NYK group company, NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers Ltd. (NBP) has signed the contract with Nanjing Jinling Shipyard (CSC Jinling), which is part of the China Merchants Group, to build two next-generation energy-saving heavy-lift vessels.Each vessel will be equipped with two 400-ton cranes; cargo up to 800 tons will be able to be loaded through tandem operation.The  vessel will have one hatch and one hold, and the hold shape will be an open-hatch type, making the vessels very efficient for cargo handling and reducing cargo damage.The on-deck length will be about 110 meters, and the in-hold length will be about 95 meters at a maximum.

E2open company Avantida, a digital logistics platform, has announced that it will partner with ocean carrier Zim Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) to offer street turn services in the US.ZIM, the second shipping line to offer this service to US transporters, joins Maersk, who introduced the Avantida platform to the US and Canada last month, said a release from Avantida, the online platform that facilitates services offered by ocean lines to transport and logistic companies for digitally optimised container transport planning.Avantida’s platform facilitates empty container triangulation, or the reuse of an import container for an export booking (street turn).

Shipping confidence held steady in the three months to end-May 2018 according to the latest Confidence Survey from international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens. The average confidence level expressed by respondents was unchanged at the four-year high of 6.4 out of 10.0 recorded in February 2018. Confidence on the part of owners was also sustained at a four-year high, of 6.6, while managers’ confidence was up from 6.4 to 6.7. The rating for charterers was up to 6.7 from 5.0 and confidence in the broking sector was up from 6.1 to 6.3. The survey was launched in May 2008 with an overall rating for all respondents of 6.8.

J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO), a middle-market private equity firm said that its investment affiliate JFL-NRC-SES Partners, LLC  signed an agreement to sell its membership interests in NRC Group Holdings, LLC (NRC Group), formed earlier this year with the combination of JFLCO companies National Response Corporation (NRC) and Sprint Energy Services (Sprint) , to Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. III (HCAC). After the transaction is completed, NRC Group will be a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of HCAC, who will change its name to NRC Group Holdings Corp. NRC Group Holdings Corp.

Bourbon Corporation CEO Gael Bodénès & his team plot a bold new course for this offshore industry stalwart.Your career with Bourbon has traversed many industry fluctuations. Looking back to when you joined the company, how is Bourbon today most the same, and most different?Bourbon has transformed from a small regional company to a world recognized leader in offshore marine services. It has seen its teams grow from a 3,000 to more than 8,000 employees of 88 nationalities, the fleet has grown to more than 500 units…

National Response Corporation, a portfolio company of an investment affiliate of J.F. Lehman & Company, completed the acquisition of Cleanline Waste Water Solutions Ltd. NRC is a provider of specialty compliance and environmental services. Headquartered in Great River, NY, with regional offices throughout the U.S. and overseas, NRC has more than 1,400 employees in locations around the world. Cleanline is a leading provider of environmental, industrial and emergency response services in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered in Liverpool, England. Paul Taveira, CEO of NRC, commented, “Cleanline is the most recent strategic addition to NRC’s unique compliance and environmental services offering and strengthens our capabilities and broadens our footprint in the United Kingdom.

Speaking in front of the Senate, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Seapower Subcommittee, said the requirement for a 355-ship Navy is clear, especially in light of the recent, fatal accidents involving the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain. In response to these incidents, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, directed that a comprehensive review take place. On Tuesday, Wicker and other members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have been briefed on those findings. The Navy is scheduled to make the review public later this week.

Frederick J. Harris, recently retired president of General Dynamics NASSCO and Bath Iron Works shipyards, has joined the operating executive board (OEB) of private equity firm J.F. Lehman & Company. The OEB is a group of industry and government executives with significant experience in the firm’s target industries. Through key relationships and sector-specific knowledge, OEB members contribute to sourcing and evaluating transactions, advising on portfolio company strategy and recruiting senior level portfolio company management.

Seaspan Corp  chairman and ceo Gerry Wang has described the bankruptcy of South Korea’s biggest container line Hanjin Shipping Co as the industry’s equivalent of the Lehman Brothers collapse that triggered the global financial crisis, reports Bloomberg. “The fallout of Hanjin Shipping is like Lehman Brothers to the financial markets,” Wang said. “It’s a huge, huge nuclear bomb. In an interview on Bloomberg TV Wang, who is founder of Seaspan, the Hong Kong-based container-ship leasing company that has three vessels chartered to the distressed line, likened the impact to shipping and supply chain to that of a nuclear bomb. In June, Wang had rejected Hanjin’s requests for charter-rate cuts before the shipping line filed for court receivership last month.

J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO) informs it has signed a definitive agreement with Oldenburg Group Incorporated to acquire its Heavy Equipment Group, including both its defense and mining business units. The new company will be named Lake Shore Systems, Inc., in a return to its roots dating back to 1858. The acquisition will represent JFLCO’s 25th sponsored platform investment since the firm’s inception. Lake Shore designs, engineers, manufactures and supports complex, heavy equipment systems to meet mission critical requirements in harsh operating environments, including large deck handling equipment, access and lifting systems for U.S. government vessels and customized underground mining equipment for mine owners and operators around the world.

U.S. Two overdue divers offshore from San Jose Island, Texas, were rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter crew Saturday afternoon. The two San Antonio men, Dennis Garrett and Robert Holms, were diving approximately 16 miles off the shoreline of San Jose Island at approximately 10 a.m. when they became noticeably overdue, leading the captain of the dive boat Reel Excursions to contact the USCG on marine band VHF-16 after growing concerns that they were 40 minutes overdue and could not be found.

Dashing hopes of a quick recovery from the global trade recession earlier this year, world shipping has fallen into a deep slump over the late summer, says a report in the Telegraph. Commodity turmoil could blow the shipping industry off course. The global shipping industry has been contending with headwinds from tumbling commodity prices for months. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) - a gauge of shipping costs - dropped to its lowest point since 1985 during the period, with the market weighed down by "an oversupplied fleet and a slowdown in seaborne demand". Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe fell by 23.2 percent to $640 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week, according to  the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index.

Wilhelmsen Maritime Services AS (WMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA, said it has signed an agreement whereby technology subsidiary Callenberg Technology Group will be acquired by Trident Maritime Systems. "We have in Trident and their principal, J. F. Lehman & Company, found a strong new owner of Callenberg. Having a new owner that operates within the same technology areas creates a perfect environment for employees, customers and future growth of Callenberg with Trident," said Dag Schjerven, president and CEO of WMS. "Through this natural combination, we will significantly expand our technical capabilities and geographic reach," said Tom Eccles, CEO of Trident.

Trident Maritime Systems (Trident), a portfolio company of J.F. Lehman & Company (JFLCO), signed a definitive agreement to acquire Callenberg Technology Group (Callenberg) from Wilhelmsen Maritime Services AS. Callenberg designs, assembles, integrates, and supports HVAC, electrical energy management, and insulation systems for commercial and government vessels around the world.  It is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden and employs approximately 900 employees in 14 countries. Trident is an independent provider of turnkey marine joiner, distributed, electro-mechanical, and power, propulsion and control systems and solutions for government and commercial customers both in the U.S. and internationally.  Completion of the sale is expected to take place later in 2016.