The USNS Sgt. William R. Button seems to overshadow the Port of Pensacola these days, its giant silhouette hiding the myriad of port operations that happen every day in our city’s downtown.
The USNS Button, an auxiliary vessel owned by the U.S. Navy in non-commissioned service and crewed by civilians, is at the Port of Pensacola for renovations and repairs. Offshore Inland Marine & Oilfield Services provides industrial marine and oilfield services for inland and offshore.
Founded in 1983, Offshore Inland began servicing the Gulf Coast industrial base. In 2000, the company started a Marine and Oilfield Service division which today has differentiated its’ full-service marine repair, rework, overhaul and modification focus to include engineering and design, fabricator, hydraulics, vessel/drilling rig topside services, and construction management contracting.
In addition to work taking place at the Port of Pensacola, they deploy teams operating within the highest industry standards in both quality and safety around the globe to service client needs. In 2014, FloridaWest assisted with Offshore Inland’s corporate headquarters move to the Port of Pensacola and today they are the largest lease-holder at the port. Senior Vice President of Commercial Jack Berglund said the Button will be at the port through the new year.
“We’ve got 20-30 employees working on the Button at any given time,” said Berglund. “The job is producing revenue for the port through the new year and the crew loves life outside the ship in Pensacola. Hotels, restaurants and shops see a lot of action and the Pensacola economy benefits when there is a ship and crew at the port.”
Port director Clark Merritt said the Port of Pensacola diversified their operations in 2013 and got a grant to help revive the port that has origins dating back to 1743.
“In 2014, FloridaWest helped to secure a grant to help with Offshore Inland’s job creation and relocation of their operation from Mobile to Pensacola,” said Merritt. “Offshore Inland perfectly complements the group of lessees that work together to make the Port a success.”
Those other tenants include Cemex, Martin Marietta, Pate Stevedore, American Magic, and GE Vernova, who transports by vessel large wind energy components from Asia for assembly at the local GE Vernova plant.
FloridaWest Chief Business Development Officer, Danita Andrews, said that Offshore Inland has been a game-changer for the port.
“Offshore Inland employs between 65 and 100 specialty skilled team members throughout the year for various shipbuilding and offshore projects,” said Andrews. “We are so fortunate to have a company like this creating jobs in Pensacola and it was all made possible through collaboration with the City and Port of Pensacola in securing performance-based grants through Enterprise Florida (now SelectFlorida) — the Qualified Target Industry Grant Fund and a Florida Seaport Transportation Economic Development Program.
“Further, we are energized about the City and the Port of Pensacola’s innovative strategy to continue attracting advanced manufacturing, engineering and design, and high-tech research and development in the watercraft and boatbuilding sectors.”