Page 28: of Marine News Magazine (August 2015)

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M N 100

The General Ship Repair Corporation, a ? xture on the

T HE

Baltimore, Maryland waterfront for nearly a century since its founding by Charles “Buck” Lynch in 1924, has be-

G ENERAL come the de facto ‘go to’ for workboat repair in the Bal-

S R CHIP EPAIR ORPORATION timore area and is enjoying a strong year, investing in its 1449 Key Highway people and employees while bringing the fourth genera-

Baltimore, Maryland 21230 tion of Lynch’s up through the ranks.

Tel: (410) 752-7620

Five years after its start, in 1929, Buck Lynch moved the

E-mail: [email protected] company across the harbor to its current location, even-

Website: www.generalshiprepair.com tually watching the company sink into bankruptcy as the

Owners: F. “Derick” Lynch, Cary B. Lynch and Michael Lynch

Depression took hold of the country. The Lynch spirit – still evident in the crew running the shipyard today – saw

Buck buy the company back out of bankruptcy, setting him ‘you’re a deckie … I don’t need a deckie, I need a it on course to weather good times and bad over its more machinist.” Today Chaz serves the company as a foreman and machinist.

than 90 years of business.

Ryan Lynch graduated from the United States Merchant

In its time, the company has serviced schooners and

Marine Academy, and today works in the yard part-time as steamships, paddle wheelers and super tankers, and ev- erything in between. Today though, providing repair and a project manager, working for the moment in between his maintenance service to the regional workboat market with sailing at-sea obligations.

The General Ship Repair Corporation’s inclusion in the its pair of 1,000 ton ? oating docks is the heart and soul of

MN100 is based on equal parts of longevity, ingenuity and its business.

Today the company is owned and operated by a trio of perseverance. ‘Self-Suf? cient’ is perhaps the best term to

Lynch brothers: Charles F. “Derick” Lynch, Cary B. Lynch describe the yard, its management and its team of 45, a focused group available 24/7/365 to its workboat clients and Michael Lynch, who took over from their father Charles “Jack” Lynch in the early 1990s. In the management wings that depend on it to keep its equipment functional and in are two of Derick’s sons, Charles (Chaz) Lynch and Ryan the water earning money.

Serving as the tug and barge repair facility in the Port of

Lynch. Chaz Lynch served in the U.S. Coast Guard for

Baltimore, its experience with the maintenance and repairs four years before deciding that his fate was on the water- front shop his great grandfather pioneered. Mid-stream of tugboats and barges is extensive. General Ship Repair in his USCG stint he switched to the mechanical side of operates its own ? oating equipment, trucks and portable the operation. “He called me two years in and said that equipment, and are able to service a vessel during cargo he really wanted to come operations, at anchorage or at its own facility. Central to its back and work at success today is its pair of 1000-ton ? oating drydocks, the the shipyard,” second added in 2012 replacing a smaller 350-ton unit.

Another big investment was in the yard’s water blast- said Derick

Lynch. ing system, replacing the more labor intensive but cheaper “And I sand blasting. “We’re not sandblasting anymore,” said De- told rick Lynch. “Even though the UHP (water blasting sys- tem) is more expensive to use and maintain, in the long run, it is much cleaner and it helps us in productivity as it eliminates sand getting into every crack and crevice.”

While the company has a long history of investing in facilities and equipment to ensure it meets vessel ? x needs,

Derick Lynch maintains that investment in its people is central to its long-term (and continued) success. “We put money back into the yard when we can put it back. At the end of the year the ? rst priority is giving back to our employees in the form of bonuses, and setting aside some money for some major projects.”

August 2015 28 MN