492 April 2008

Texas Crew Boats: Niche Marketing

The crewboat Jaqueline being hauled on Baron Marine's new travel lift.
Photo by Alan Haig-Brown.

Capt. R. A. Prestridge III of the Jaqueline and Capt. Elliott Cundieff. Photo by Alan Haig-Brown.

Capt. Elliott Cundieff recently sold the party fishing boat branch of his business to focus on the crew boat side of things. This coincided with his current new build program that has included three new vessels. First came the Miss Claire in 2006, followed by the 160-foot Greater Scott delivered in early 2008 and finally the Sea Angel to be delivered this September. (see Hotips#463)

The first two of these three vessels are powered by four Cummins KTA38 M2 diesels generating 5400 hp total for each boat. The Sea Angel will be powered by four of the new Tier 2 certified Cummins QSK38 M generating the same horsepower at 1900 RPM. These are the first of the 38-liter engines for Texas Crewboats but three of the company’s other vessels are each powered by a quad of Cummins KTA19 giving each of these 125 to 135-foot boats 2800 hp. In addition to their main engines, Texas operates a raft of Cummins powered gensets.

As a family-run company Texas Crewboats avoids head-to-head competition with the big fleets and concentrates on giving excellent service and competitive prices in specialized niche markets. With their boats built in Louisiana and operating in both Louisiana and Texas the seamless care that Cummins maintains between various distributors is important. In the case of Texas grew boats engines have been sourced from both Cummins Mid-South in Louisiana and Cummins Southern Plains in Texas. The boats routinely work in the service areas of both distributors. “This is not a problem,” reports Cundieff, we get good support in Port Fouchon and Cameron Louisiana just as we do in our home here at Freeport Texas.”

Capt. Elliott Cundieff and the Gulf of Mexico. Photo by Alan Haig-Brown.

For the bi-annual haul out and inspection required by the US Coast Guard, Cundieff tries to have his boats back in Freeport. This has just been made a lot easier by the addition at Baron’s Marine in Freeport of a 220-ton Travel Lift that can handle all of the Texas Crewboat fleet. One of the first to be lifted was the 125-foot Jacqueline. Built at Gulf Craft in 1982 for McCall the boat underwent a major refit in 1999. For customers that don’t require a big boat with all the expense of dynamic positioning and the fuel costs engendered with large engines, this is the kind of boat that is in demand.

Kerry Neuville and his daughter Lacey with Texas Crewboat's Sea Angel in build. Photo by Alan Haig-Brown.

But it takes more than the right boat and the right price for a small company to stay in business. Cundieff is available to his captains either directly or through one of his staff. There is no board to approve expenditures and he, along with son Casey, daughter Lari Scott and her husband Pat are all involved in various aspects of the business and, with the new boats coming on line, they are all there for the long term.

Interestingly at the Neuville yard where they have had the recent set of boats built, Kerry Neuville has just brought his daughter onboard at the company that he and his brother have built. Family and family run companies have a strong tradition in south Louisiana just as they do in south Texas.

For further information:

Elliott Cundieff
President
Texas Crewboats Inc.
222 W. 2nd Street
P.O. Box 644
Freeport, Texas 77542
Phone: 979 233 8222
Fax: 979 233 3459
E-mail: coolc@texascrewboats.com
Web: www.texascrewboats.com

Kerry Neuville
Neuville Boat Works
6402 Daspit Rd.
New Iberia, LA 70560
USA
Phone: 337 229 6507 or 6803
Fax: 337 229 8242
E-Mail: NBWBoats@aol.com

Red Cunningham
Marine Territory Sales Manager
Cummins Mid-South
P.O. Box 1229
Hwy. 90 East
Amelia, LA 70340
U.S.A.
Phone: 985 631-0576
Fax: 985 631-0081
E-Mail: David.S.Cunningham@Cummins.com

525-501, 500-476, 475-451, 450-426, 425-401, 400-376
375-351, 375-351, 350-326, 325-301, 300-276, 275-251, 250-226, 225-201
200-176, 175-151, 150-126, 125-101, 100-76, 75-51, 50-26, 25-0