50 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2014
MARINE PROPULSION
M
arine propulsion and thruster
manufacturer Thrustmaster of
Texas, Inc. announced a deal
earlier this year to acquire the technol-
ogy of DOEN, an Australian designer
and manufacturer of waterjet propulsion
systems. The deal is signifi cant in that it
makes Thrustmaster the only producer
of commercial waterjets in the United
States, helping the Houston-based com-
pany to expand upon an already strong
line of commercial marine propulsion
offerings. One of only fi ve marine water-
jet manufacturers worldwide that builds
waterjets up to 4,000 kW, DOEN has
been building waterjets in Australia four
nearly 50 years. Spurred by a deteriorat-
ing market for manufacturing in Austra-
lia, the company ventured out in search
for international partners to produce and
market its products in other regions, ulti-
mately landing a deal with Thrustmaster.
An agreement between DOEN and
Thrustmaster was reached after roughly
a year of planning between DOEN’s Di-
rector Mark Peters, DOEN’s Director
and Chief Engineer Timothy Udvary and
Thrustmaster’s founder, president and
CEO Joe Bekker. “DOEN approached
Thrustmaster, and Thrustmaster acquired
the exclusive rights for manufacturing
the full range of [DOEN’s] products,”
Bekker said, explaining, “Thrustmaster
and DOEN work closely together like
hand in glove.”
The deal, which Bekker said required
Thrustmaster to invest “many millions,”
sees Thrustmaster market and build wa-
terjets under its own name, although
the products will be interchangeable
in whole and in parts with the DOEN
waterjets made in Australia. Follow-
ing a $40 million investment into its
200,000-square-foot manufacturing
plant in 2009, Thrustmaster is again ex-
panding its manufacturing facility, this
time to 250,000 square feet, adding more
CNC machining capabilities, in-house
paint capabilities and warehouse storage
to stow an inventory of smaller jet sizes.
The company also intends to add 40 em-
ployees to its current workforce of 250.
The partnership enables Thrustmaster
to hold exclusive rights for sales and sup-
port of waterjet products in the Americas
and Europe, using waterjets and parts
built by Thrustmaster in Houston, Texas,
while DOEN will continue to serve mar-
kets in Asia, Africa and Australasia with
waterjets produced in Australia. Each
waterjet is supported by Thrustmaster’s
global network of sales, spare parts, ser-
vice and support that includes locations
in Houston, Louisiana, Brazil, Europe,
Dubai and Singapore.
For Thrustmaster, the deal comes at
an opportune time Bekker said. “Thrust-
master has been growing fast over the
last 10 years, primarily in the large azi-
muth thruster segment, like drillship and
semi-submersible applications,” he said.
“The drillship market has cooled off,
and we needed a replacement market
to keep our factory busy. Waterjets for
commercial and military applications fi t
our business strategy and nicely comple-
ment our existing product lines.”
The initiative strengthens Thrustmas-
Waterjetsaterjets
Manufacturing Comes Manufacturing Comes
Stateside Stateside
Thrustmaster’s deal with DOEN
brings waterjet manufacturing
to the United States.
By Eric Haun
Thrustmaster founder, president and CEO Joe Bekker (middle) seals the deal to
bring waterjet manufacture to Texas.
MR #9 (50-57).indd 50 9/3/2014 10:44:23 AM
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