Atchafalaya River

Mile 119.0 - LBD Swiftships Boat Yard

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 2 min read

119 LBD Swiftships Boat Yard

At the neck of Drew’s Pass you might notice sleek aluminum hulls being welded together underneath giant quonset structures. This is the Swiftships Boat Construction Factory. The high tech vessels you see might be bound for the Egyptian Navy, the Iraqi Navy, the US Navy, or to service the oil wells of the Gulf of Mexico.

From the Swiftships website: Swiftships is the proud legacy of a heritage beginning with Sewart Machine Works and founder Fred Sewart in 1942 before becoming Sewart Seacraft in 1946. The company was renamed Swiftships in 1969, and in 1979 began a general expansion of its shipyards creating six divisions: Morgan City, Louisiana – specialized in aluminum construction of oilfield support vessels, ferryboats, military craft, specialty vessels and pleasure boats. Pass Christian, Mississippi – specialized in construction of larger steel-hulled vessels. Lafitte yard in Marrero, Louisiana – aluminum fabrication yard. Freeport, Texas – was a full service repair yard specializing in supply vessels, large oceangoing barges, utility boats, tugs and crew boats. Singapore – Joint Venture facility with Maroil specialized in construction of military and oilfield support vessels. Houston, Texas – the Swift/Mangone Division, built large steel hulled vessels.

In 1981 Swiftships became part of United Nuclear Corporation of Falls Church, Virginia. In November of 1985 the company broke away from the conglomerate and became the Swift Group owned by Calvin LeLeux, Dennis Spurgeon, Robert Ness and Dave Ganley. In 1990, Ganley retired and in 2000 Spurgeon sold his shares to Ness and Leleux. In 2004, Ness opted out of the company leaving Leleux as sole owner. For the next several years under Leleux’s leadership, Swiftships was engaged in commercial construction for the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico and refurbishing vessels for the Dominican Republic when in 2008 the company became part of the APEX Group of companies. In 2008 Swiftships started its Co-production planning. Upon contract signing with the Egyptian Navy, Swiftships gave birth to its Co-production program in support of the Egyptian Navy requirement that the vessels be built in country.

In 2009, Swiftships was awarded an FMS contract by the U.S. Navy on behalf of the Iraqi Navy which included the establishment of a Ship Repair Facility in Umm Qasr, Iraq and the new modified 35m Patrol Boat was unveiled. It was during the FMS program with the Iraqi Navy that the brothers Shehraze Shah and Khurram Shah with ICS Marine LLC met Calvin Leleux and his son Jeff Leleux and a relationship which would catapult Swiftships forward began. Their combined vision and drive carries the foundational principles that personify Swiftships’ legacy. In 2012 the company reorganized to its current form and Swiftships LLC. A partnership between the LeLeuxs and the Shahs was formulated as ICS Marine and Swiftships became One Team. (Swiftships website)

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