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56 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News In many ways, Green Cove Springs, FL- based Mobro Marine is like many other medium-sized maritime operations: born, bred and still family owned, with a strong, loyal customer base dating mul- tiple generations. But peel back the cover, and Mobro is indeed a unique entity; a multi-faceted and dynamic company lo- cated 30 miles south of Jacksonville, a company which has carved a deep niche as a one-stop-shop for bringing to the market a soup-to-nuts package of heavy lift, barge and towing capability; deliv- ering its clients and all the materials they need to complete their job to most any point on the globe. By Greg Trauthwein Mobro has deep roots in the North Florida business community, tracing it roots to 1913 and the MD Moody & Sons machinery company, with a break out of Moody Brothers in the early-1960s sig- naling its entrance into the marine indus- try. “This business has always been consid- ered a ‘Fred & Barney’ business,” said John Hall, vice president, operations, Mobro Marine, in a reference to every- one’s favorite “Stone Age Family,” the Flintstones. “But modernization, in terms of technology and technique, is the key to survival and prosperity.” The company today – led by John Row- land, the fourth generation president of the company – is a diverse business with global operations and four separate yet intertwined lines of business: Equipment leasing and sales; charter boats and barges; tug and towing operations; and specialty projects, such as “float on, float off.” While the company counts its mod- ern crane, barge and boat capability as central to its success, it counts its loca- tion: with more than 28 acres situated on the St. John’s River as a primary driver to its business, particularly in alluring strong repeat clients such as American Bridge. “We are, in essence, a private port fa- cility,” Hall explained. “On our property we have the ability to help our biggest clients to stage all materials for their job, load them up, transport them to site, un- load them, then pick them up when the job is done.” He cites American Bridge’s Mayport job (GET DETAILS), a massive project which required staging of steel beams and concrete structures starting three months in advance. “We are literally a one-stop-shop, meaning our clients don’t have to source a staging area, a crane company, a barge company, and a towing company … we offer it all,” Hall said. It is this diversity, in Hall’s estimation, which has allowed the company to weather the current economic downturn with minimal impact. “I’ve been here since 1987 and I’ve never seen a lull in the business as severe as this current re- cession. It appears now business is start- ing to rebound.” While admitting that business in the past year has been down, particularly on the equipment rental side, he proudly notes that the company was able to avoid lay-offs, enabling it to keep intact its ex- perienced team of more than 130. “From a logistics point of view, at any time we may have 12 or 13 projects on a given day, so the logistical planning is critical to ensure that everything is kept flowing smoothly,” Hall said. Central to this capability is, of course, a dedicated crew who has the experience to keep op- erations running. In addition to people power, the com- pany has astutely invested in physical as- sets: barges, cranes and workboats; in an effort to keep its capabilities in step with demand. It has the capability to build its own barges, and has added eight new self-built to its fleet of more than 100 over the past few years, and has more re- cently become a distributor for Kobelco cranes, which Hall maintains are more modern and filled with amenities than its American Crane fleet. “But the American crane still has tremendous value, as it is less dependent upon technology and we deliver this capability in plenty of third world locales.” Its crane fleet today num- bers 40, ranging in capacity from 40 to 450 tons; complemented by its 100+ barge fleet and a vessel fleet of 30 U.S.- flag workboats, including inland tow- boats and offshore tugboats ranging in size from 300 to 3,000 hp. The most re- cent addition to the latter is the 3,000 hp Rio Bravo, the rebuild of an old Tidewa- ter workboat that was re-conditioned at WORKBOAT ANNUALFEATURE Mobro Marine Heavy Lift & Transport’s One-Stop Shop Mobro tug transports Walt Disney Waterslide barge on top of Mobro barge to Disney Island. Upon arrival Mobro submerged ABS barge and floated off Disney Waterslide barge, then pulled it into place within the lagoon at Disney Island. Mobro ABS barge mounted Ringhorse and American 11320 (450t) crawler lifts collapsed container crane from water in Freeport, Grand Bahama.
