Swiftships is a shipbuilding and marine engineering company headquartered in South Louisiana, USA.[1] Company operates globally[2] and specialized in the construction of small to medium sized vessels made of steel, aluminum or fiberglass.[1][3] Swiftships is involved in ship design, construction, repair and maintenance activities.

History

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Founded by Fred Sewart in 1942, Swiftships began as Sewart Machine Works and then as Sewart Seacraft[4] in 1946. Company became a supplier of “Swift Boats” to the US Navy during the Vietnam War (Swiftships delivered 193 Fast Patrol Crafts to the US Navy throughout the conflict).[2] The mission objective of the Swift Boat was to provide the Navy with a fast boat that could patrol the river shores for enemy soldiers.[5]

In 1969 the company was renamed as Swiftships.[6][1]

Since 2004 and for the next years, Swiftships built ships for the oil and gas industry of the Gulf of Mexico[7][8] and restored vessels for the Dominican Republic.[9]

Company has created its first fully unmanned surface vehicle in 2015, called Anaconda (AN-1), and later the Anaconda (AN-2), for which Swiftships teamed with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette[10] and augmented technology developers.[11][12]

Since 1942 Swiftships has designed and built over 600 naval vessels and commercial platforms.[3]

Co-production

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In 2008 the company signed a contract with the Egyptian Navy, initiating a co-production program, building vessels in-country.[13] The partnership includes a yard in Alexandria, where the company produces patrol crafts.[14]

In 2009, Swiftships was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy to provide Follow on Technical Support on behalf of the Iraqi Navy that included the establishment of a Ship Repair Facility in Umm Qasr, Iraq.[15][16][17][18]

Yards

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In 2020, Swiftships operates 3 yards in USA and 1 co-production yard (JV) with Egyptian Navy in Alexandria, Egypt:

Products

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Ship types include:

References

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  1. ^ a b c "BOSS Magazine | Swiftships: The Sea's Best Aluminum Water Vessel". BOSS Magazine. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  2. ^ a b "Swiftly Going Places Where Others Fear". Swiftships. 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  3. ^ a b c d "Swiftships". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  4. ^ "Yachts .com Swiftship Yachts". www.yachts.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  5. ^ Network, Warfare History (2019-06-10). "Swift Boats: How America Used These Tiny Warships to Wage War In Vietnam". The National Interest. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  6. ^ "Swiftships back in commercial market". WorkBoat. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  7. ^ "Back to Business". WorkBoat. 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  8. ^ a b "Swiftships Completing 20-Acre Repair Yard In Freeport, Texas". magazines.marinelink.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  9. ^ "Entregan dos guardacostas a la flota naval dominicana - Diario Dominicano". www.diariodominicano.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  10. ^ "Swiftships, UL Lafayette develop unmanned boat for military". University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  11. ^ a b "AN-2 Anaconda". www.navaldrones.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  12. ^ a b "Robotic Marine Vehicles: Meet the Anaconda-2". magazines.marinelink.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  13. ^ "Egyptian Navy to get four more vessels from Swiftships". defenceWeb. 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  14. ^ "Swiftships Strengthening Its Global Presence". www.monch.com. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  15. ^ "Swiftships gets $14.5 million more for Iraq Navy support". Marine Log. 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  16. ^ "Swiftships Orders Build Iraqi Navys Coastal Patrol Capabilities". Defense Industry Daily. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  17. ^ "Swiftship cleared for $150m Iraqi Navy support contract". Naval Today. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  18. ^ "US Approves $150m for Iraqi Navy Vessels and Ship Repair". Iraq Business News. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  19. ^ IBERIAN, DWAYNE FATHERREE | THE DAILY. "Breaux adapting to changing boat market". The Daily Iberian. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  20. ^ "Swiftships". Interlink Capital Strategies. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  21. ^ "Currently we building of 6 fast patrol aluminium". Egyptian Ship Repair&Building Co. 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  22. ^ "Bahrain buys two American boats built Swiftships". weaponews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  23. ^ "BIDEC 2019: Swift Ships showcases fast patrol vessel and coastal patrol boat". www.armyrecognition.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  24. ^ "Contracts for February 4, 2019". U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  25. ^ "NAVSEA Picks Swiftships LLC to Design, Build LCU Replacement in $18M Contract Award". USNI News. 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  26. ^ "Landing Craft Utility (LCU) - Defense Daily". Defense Daily. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  27. ^ Burgess, Richard R. (2020-04-03). "Navy Orders Four New LCU 1700 Utility Landing Craft from Swiftships". Seapower. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  28. ^ "Pakistan orders two corvettes from US-based Swiftships". Quwa. 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  29. ^ Correspondent, The Newspaper's (2017-11-02). "Pakistan Navy buying vessels for special operations from US company". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2020-01-02. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)