Philly Shipyard said it has reached a deal with Avalotis Corporation affiliate Avalotis Industrial Services (AIS) for the transfer of operations of the shipbuilder’s Prime Plate Facility – a steel blasting and priming facility located outside the shipyard fence-line in the Navy Yard business park. Effective February 1, 2023, AIS assumed full operational control of this facility while servicing all of Philly Shipyard’s plate priming requirements for its shipbuilding, repair, and miscellaneous fabrication activities.
The Prime Plate Facility receives plates from the steel mill, and then shot blasts and primes them with a weldable zinc primer, also known as a pre-construction primer. The cycle takes place in an indoor controlled environment for proper surface preparation.
On September 6, 2022, Philly Shipyard and AIS announced the signing of a term sheet for the transfer which was contingent on both parties reaching a final agreement and obtaining the necessary consents and approvals.
“We have worked with Avalotis Corporation on numerous projects in the past and we look forward to a strong continued partnership through this new agreement,” said Steinar Nerbovik, President and CEO of Philly Shipyard. “Transferring our prime plate operations will allow Philly Shipyard to completely focus on our core business of shipbuilding while receiving operational and overhead cost savings. We see this as a win for both parties.”
“Avalotis Industrial Services (AIS) is proud to be partnering together with Philly Shipyard. This agreement allows AIS to expand our fully automated surface preparation and industrial coating services throughout the East Coast. Individually we are a drop, but together we are an ocean,” said Joe Professori, President of Avalotis Industrial Services.
In addition to servicing Philly Shipyard’s plate priming requirements, Avalotis intends to market its plate priming services to third party industrial and government clients.
