Bradford Marine sold to Fort Lauderdale Yacht Harbor
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Bradford Fort Lauderdale's 11,000 linear feet of covered in-water dockage. Photo courtesy of Bradford Marine.
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Bradford's towboat on the New River. Photo courtesy of Capt Carl Brandes
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Classic yacht restorations at Bradford. photo courtesy Bradford Marine
Bradford Marine rang in the new year with new ownership closing on January 2, 2019. Fort Lauderdale Yacht Harbor (FLHY) acquired Bradford Marine's Fort Lauderdale and Bahamas refit-service shipyards and its brokerage division.
Paul Engle will continue as Bradford's president; he told YachtingJournal.com. “To fund improvements, the new owners will be injecting additional capital into both yards.”
Incorporated in 1969, Bradford aims to be a megayacht destination shipyard, insomuch as it is surrounded by South Florida’s marine industry titans, including Derecktors and Lauderdale Marine Center, and many other shipyards and subcontractors spawning an economic impact of $8.8 billion in Broward County annually with thousands of jobs.
Specific upgrades and improvements at Bradford’s include electronics, and a new high speed WiFi network covering the complete yard, enabling owners, captains and crew to access high speed Internet for Voice over IP, video conferencing, and high speed entertainment streaming.
“This complimentary WiFI service will have the bandwidth and speeds to allow for simultaneous use by all yachts in port, enabling everyone to be productive and entertained,” said Engle, adding, “The Kelly’s are dedicated to our team of employees, and will be retaining all of our team so that yacht owners, captains and crews, can count on the same skilled technicians that have been serving them in the past. I am very excited to have the Kelly’s as new owners!”
Engel wanted a buyer that appreciated all the positive aspects of Bradford Marine, including service and repair capability and dockage facilities for megayachts at its Freeport facility, which complements expansive covered dockage and refit service at its Fort Lauderdale facility, with a customer-focused brokerage business and highly-skilled employee base.
“The new owners are completely focused on yacht owners, captains and crews, and will be working with this whole community to ensure we are their first choice for repair, refit, dockage, and brokerage services,” said Engle.
Bradford in Fort Lauderdale has hauling capacity up to 250 tons and holds yachts up to 180 feet. The facility has more than 11,000 linear feet of in-water dockage under cover. The 47-acre Bradford Marine Bahamas accommodates yachts up to 500 feet in length. The island facility has 25-foot depth, a 1,200-ton drydock, a 150-ton Marine Travelift, and access to a 27,000-ton drydock. Approval from the Bahamian government is expected in the next 60 days.
