May June 2020 Marina World

WORLD NEWS
Southern
adds three to
portfolio
USA: Southern Marina Holdings, LLC has
purchased three premium Florida marina facilities
from Aqua Marine Partners. The addition of Hi-Lift
Marina in Aventura, Hidden Harbour in Pompano
Beach and Palm Harbour in Cape Haze brings
the growing Southern Marinas portfolio to ten
properties.
All three marinas have special
attributes. Hi Lift has nearby access from
the Baker’s Haulover Inlet and features
full-service dry storage operations, a
new boat showroom, boat club and
Yacht brokerage. Hidden Harbour is the
newest and most prestigious drystack in
Pompano Beach and has fast and easy
access to the Atlantic. It will soon have
a vibrant, new neighbouring community
of apartments, restaurants and retail,
currently under development by Aqua
Marina Partners CEO Andy Sturner.
Palm Harbour is a boutique-style
resort marina near Boca Grande Pass
– home to the world’s best tarpon
fishing. With a combination of drystack
and wet slips, it can accommodate
boats up to 65ft (20m).
Andrew Gendron, principal and
chief investment officer with Southern
Marinas, said the company was excited
to have secured the marinas. “Our
overall goal is to continue to expand the
Southern Marinas brand through the
purchase of key locations. Our team
is always on the lookout for new and
exciting opportunities like this one from
Aqua Marine.”
While the marinas are currently open
and running as normal, Southern’s
management team will continue to
monitor all government updates on the
COVID-19 pandemic. The marinas will
be implementing the protocols outlined
by these agencies with the primary
goal of providing a safe environment
for boaters and team members at their
locations.
SF boosts factory facilities to
meet increased demand
GLOBAL: SF Marina has commenced operations at new manufacturing facilities in Malaysia and Thailand. This is in
addition to expanding its production sites in Sweden, the USA and New Zealand.
The addition of the Malaysia and
Thailand facilities strengthens SF
Marina’s commitment to the Asian
region. Located in the Kuala Lumpur
and Bangkok regions respectively, they
are scaled to meet the current demand
for floating concrete structures within
the area.
In Sweden, at the company’s
Wallhamn manufacturing facility, SF
added a sixth precast production
bed and built a new concrete plant
in 2019. This year, it acquired an
adjacent building to accommodate the
expanding demand for its products.
These steps provide the means to
deliver increasingly larger items such
as 10m (33ft) wide x 3m (10ft) high
breakwaters and a floating hotel
structure measuring 22m (72ft) wide x
63m (207ft) long.
The factory expansion of the
North American division, SF Marina
USA, added a second precast
production line for increased capacity.
It also reconfigured its logistics to
accommodate the delivery of larger
structures via barge. Located in
Norfolk, Virginia, it matches the
delivery levels of SF Marina’s other
primary plant in Dubai, UAE.
In New Zealand, SF is constructing
a second production facility to meet
growing demand. This expands the
company’s presence in the country
by as much as 300%. The location
is expected to begin operations this
summer.
“SF Marina has expanded its
production capacity worldwide to
keep pace with global demand,” said
Michael Sigvardsson, SF Marina
System CEO. “But that’s just half of
the equation. We’re also growing our
technology and working on exciting
new products to help marinas weather
the storms for the next 100 years.”
SF Marina pioneered the floating
concrete pontoon in the 1920s. It has
additional production facilities in Egypt,
Greece, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Turkey.
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www.marinaworld.com - May/June 2020