Bradford Grand Bahama Overcomes Hurricanes

During the recent hurricane assault on the Bahamas, Bradford Grand Bahama, Ltd. (Bradford), one of the Bradford Marine family of companies, hardly missed a beat in the operation of its 50 acre full-service, ISPS-compliant shipyard in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. On September 4, Bradford’s Freeport shipyard was hit by Hurricane Frances, which caused some damage at the facility but inflicted major damage to the utility infrastructure on Grand Bahama Island. Determined to minimize any disruption and to continue providing jobs for its shipyard workers, Bradford swiftly sent a container load of water, food and other supplies to its workers and also purchased a 275 KW, 400 amp generator which it quickly had up and running. This generator, coupled with the yard’s two existing generators, meant that the shipyard missed only one day of operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Frances. As a result, when Hurricane Jeanne hit Grand Bahama Island on September 25, 2004, Bradford was ready, and there was no disruption of operations. Paul Engle, Bradford’s President, said that “We are very pleased that Bradford was able to provide for its workers, quickly overcome the effects of Hurricane Frances, and prepare for storms such as Hurricane Jeanne. Since Bradford began operations in the Bahamas in 1998, we have grown into a full-service shipyard serving both yacht and commercial vessel owners, and we are determined to continue our serving the Company’s customers and helping our people with minimal disruption.”