The great history of such prestigious shipyard in the Gulf of Mexico dates back to 1929 in the Port of Veracruz, when by initiative of Commodore Ignacio Garcia Jurado the dockyard arose as a small construction patio immediate to the San Juan de Ulua Fort, that came to life until 1935 with only one dry dock of 50 meters length, 9 meters breadth, and 2.7 meters draft, under the same mission of conducting the construction of 5 coastguards and thus prepare the Mexican workforce for the expansion of the maritime industry.
1946
Later in Veracruz, a year after the creation of the Secretaria de Marina, the construction of dry dock number 2 started, with 157 meters length, 19 meters breadth and 4.8 meters draught, as part of the edification of the Naval Base Unit in what used to be the lower ground of San Juan de Ulua. This important construction required emerging the surface to 1.20 meters above the sea level and gain 40 hectares of sea land using the dredging products from the bay.
1956
Fourteen years later, directed by Admiral Antonio Vazquez del Mercado, the shipyard in Veracruz conducted the construction of the first vessel with steel casing in Mexico; It was a small merchant with 765 tons of deadweight, 52.8 meters length and 8.28 meters breadth, which was baptized under the name of “Mexico” and was launched in June 15th 1958 under the guardianship of the Italian Engineer Alberto Farina; so being modestly supervised and designed with foreign technology, that another vessel was constructed in Mexico after 150 years of inactivity for the vessel construction industry.
1962
Astilleros de Veracruz S.A.
During this stage, in May 1962 with resources from Maryland Dry-dock Company, the company Astilleros de Veracruz S.A. was born, which followed the construction of fishing boats, patrol vessels, tugboats and barges for Mexico and abroad, as well as performing dry and afloat repairs.
1970-1979
Astilleros Unidos S.A.
In the 70’s, during the government of Luis Echeverria Alvarez, the government-sponsored company Astilleros Unidos S.A (AUSA) was formed by presidential decree, that would be the one in charge of managing the 4 biggest shipyards on our country, with the one in Veracruz among them, which during the period of June 1976 and November 1978 conducted the construction of 7 patrol vessels of 112 meters length for Mexico’s Army.
1979-1982
Astilleros Unidos de Veracruz S.A. de C.V.
With the oil boom and the increase of oil exports in the 80’s, Mexico suffered the consequences of hold up against the International Maritime Industry, since the oil exports had to be defrayed in their majority to foreign vessels with the subsequent currency leak. Due to this, Mexico faced the biggest challenge for the national maritime industry at that time: building tanker vessels to avoid paying foreign transportation and place the Mexican maritime industry in a better scenario.
Thus being crystallized when Jose Lopez Portillo, President of the Republic at that time, entrusted the company A&P Appledore of England with a feasibility study for the development of shipyard for heavy maritime repair and construction, the same that once proven efficient started in 1979 and contemplated the inclusion of another drydock with 271 meters length, 36 meters breadth and 5.18 meters draught, project that finalized in 1982 under the name of Astilleros Unidos de Veracruz S.A de C.V (AUVER), becoming the first heavy maritime construction centre in Mexico.
1983-1989
Such infrastructure, the first of its type in Mexico, was the one that started the mass production of tanker vessels Nuevo PEMEX I, II, III and IV built with a capacity of 45 tons of deadweight from 1983 to 1989 with more than 6 thousand workers, such being the biggest maritime construction in the country ever since, and the one that gave way for the construction of more vessels like boats, reduced draught casing for Holland, dredgers for PEMEX and hundreds of major repairs for national and foreign vessels.
1995
Talleres Navales del Golfo
Later on, in 1995, after the Port requisition in Veracruz, the shipyard continues its operations under concession with the now prestigious name of Talleres Navales del Golfo (TNG) and enters the metal works industry, fabricating structures such as offshore modules, jackets, bridges, decks, wind towers, heliports, funnels, steel tanks, rolled pipes, beams pills and buoys, among others, which reduced the maritime repair activities, until 2003 when the the shipyard stood out with the construction of two rigs “Carina” and “Aries” for Argentina.
2006
Miembro del grupo Hutchison Ports
In 2006, Talleres Navales del Golfo became a member of Hutchinson Ports, main port investor, developer and operator in the world, event that returned the great shipyard in the Golf of Mexico to its Alma Mater regarding service providing in the maritime sector; In this way, and thanks to Jose Antonio Sardiña Aguirre, as General Manager since 2011, the shipyard retook steady course with the intention of placing the shipyard as the tip of the spear for the Mexican Maritime Industry, without leaving aside the expertise reached among the metal works sector. This became a reality when in April 2nd, 2014, through an strategic alliance with PEMEX and SEMAR, TNG announced the reactivation of the Naval Construction in Mexico, with the beginning of the construction of 4 azimuth tugboats for PEMEX Refinery and the shot blasting process, application of shop primer, cutting and beveling of the more than 3000 steel plates required for the 16 vessels which would renew part of PEMEX’s minor fleet.
2015
Hutchison Ports TNG cumple 80 años.
This is how 2015 represent a year of accomplishments and celebration for Talleres Navales del Golfo, because it cements 20 years as assignee in the Port of Veracruz only a few days after the recent Floating ceremony of the Azimuth tugboat C-130, same that will incorporate PEMEX’s minor fleet midyear, crowning with this the commemoration of 80 great years of the shipyard that has been constructing history.
