Griffon Hovercraft to be Manufactured in U.S.A.

Griffon Hoverwork Limited (“GHL”) of Southampton England has licensed Kvichak Marine Industries Inc (“KMI”) of Seattle WA in the United States to manufacture its Griffon range of diesel-engined amphibious hovercraft.

The advantage of this tie-up for GHL is to overcome the protective Jones Act, which effectively bars foreign boat and hovercraft builders from selling their craft into the USA for commercial operations. The advantage for KMI is that it now has the largest range of hovercraft available in the world to manufacture – possibly in the world’s largest market.

KMI is renowned for producing many different high-quality aluminium boats in the U.S.A. over many years. It has an enviable record for producing custom-built boats on time, and was selected by GHL following an evaluation of several boatyards in the USA.

The first order for a KMI-built Griffon hovercraft has already been confirmed and building has commenced. Crowley Marine Inc, a well known and respected boat operator for the oil industry, has placed an order for a 20 seat Griffon 2000TD to be operated on the North Slope of Alaska for British Petroleum (“BP”). This craft will operate in one of the most inhospitable climates and under some of the most testing conditions in the world. The hovercraft will be used as a logistics vessel carrying personnel, goods & equipment to a man-made offshore production island in Prudoe Bay. The journey from the mainland base to the island is roughly six nautical miles and the sea is frozen for some 8 months of the year. Whereas an ‘ice road’ is sometimes constructed during the worst freeze-overs, the ice is frequently of indeterminate thickness, creating dangerous conditions for travelling personnel. Uniquely, the 2000TD will operate year-round, during the all-water summer months, the ice formation period, the thick-ice winter and the ice break-up in the Spring.

Crowley Marine and BP undertook an extensive evaluation of all hovercraft, and even tested a competitive hovercraft on site in Alaska. Their team visited many hovercraft operations worldwide including the most northerly of the three Swedish Coast Guard’s Griffon 2000TD operations (which has operated in similar arctic conditions for some 10 years now).

The Griffon sales team in the USA, Griffon Hovercraft–USA (“GH-USA”), was instrumental in bringing this sale to fruition and GH-USA now operates from a new office in Bethany Connecticut.

It is envisaged that the combination of GHL, KMI & GH-USA will satisfy the many requirements for the unique amphibious range of Griffon hovercraft in the USA.

Return to news page