Brownsville AmFELS shipyard, among Gulf’s largest, to be sold for $50.6M to energy company

One of the largest shipyards on the Gulf Coast may be sold to an energy company in a $50.6 million deal, underscoring the Port of Brownsville’s growing role in the energy sector and in liquefied natural gas development.

The Port of Brownsville said in a statement Wednesday the transaction marks “a significant opportunity” for the Rio Grande Valley and pointed to the buyer’s global reach as a source of new investment and innovation.

The port also said the deal “further enhances our position in global energy markets” and could open the door to new projects tied to Brownsville’s industrial base.

A subsidiary of Singapore-based Seatrium Ltd., which controls the AmFELS shipyard, signed a contract to sell it to Karpower Valley LLC, the U.S. arm of Turkey’s Karpowership, according to a Seatrium news release issued Tuesday.

The buyer operates floating power plants and is also active in liquefied natural gas projects, an industry that has drawn major investment to Brownsville in recent years.

The shipyard spans roughly 300 acres on the 30-mile Brownsville Ship Channel — an area big enough to hold more than 225 football fields. That scale gives companies room to build and launch massive offshore platforms and vessels.

Its direct link to the Gulf of Mexico is just as critical.

The deep-water channel makes it possible to move oversized equipment and completed structures to open seas — a requirement for shipbuilding, offshore fabrication, and many energy-related projects.

The Center for Land Use Interpretation, a nonprofit research group that studies industrial sites, describes the site as one of the Gulf’s largest offshore fabrication yards.

Seatrium said part of the payment is deferred for one year after closing and that the deal still requires approvals, including the transfer of the shipyard’s lease by the port to the new owner. The seller said it will complete projects already underway and expects to finish operations by the end of 2025.

It was not immediately clear how many people work at the AmFELS shipyard for Seatrium, nor how many would potentially work for Karpower Valley after the deal is done.

“We are confident this new partnership will create meaningful economic opportunities [and] strengthen our workforce,” according to the Port of Brownsville’s press release.

After the sale, Seatrium expects to shift its focus to other U.S. operations, such as its engineering and technology hub in Houston and customer service center in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

“This sale strengthens our relationship with Karpowership,” Seatrium Chief Executive Officer Chris Ong said in the release. “The U.S. market remains important to us.”