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14Maritime Reporter & Engineering News literally disappeared, meaning Bekker and company had no means to fulfill its contract. He reached out to various sup- pliers, but was unsuccessful in finding anything that would cost them less than the value of the contract with the Army Corps of Engineers. So Bekker reluc- tantly went back to the contractors to in-form them that he was unable to fulfill the contract, and that they should proceed to the next lowest bidder instead. He was in for a rude awakening, and the birth of Thrustmaster of Texas. ?The Army Corps of Engineers repre- sentative explained to me that I didn?t un- derstand,? Bekker said. ?They explained that if I had a contract with the govern- ment of the United States, I had an obli-gation to perform it. And if I chose to not perform on the contract, I would be found in default, and under the Federal acquisi- tion regulations I would be found liable for the additional expense that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would incur in buying it someplace else, and possibly incur some delay charges. In addition, I was certainly going to be put on a black list and would never be able to sell to the government again.? Startled but not dissuaded, Bekker sol- diered on. ?So I said, ?well, let me take another look at that contract,? and I went back to the office and decided to build it myself,? he said. Birth of the Manufacturer Bekker had always been enamored with manufacturing, and he decided to build it hydraulically. ?We bought a little Detroit 353 diesel engine, a pump and we mounted it on theengine. We bought a propeller and drove it with a hydraulic motor, and designed and built the structure. And after it was complete, I thought it was a great idea. It seemed to work fine, and I decided to start marketing the concept of these hy- draulically powered outboard propulsion units.? The concept evidently had legs and started to take off, though not exactly like a rocket, Bekker said. ?The early years were struggling, but it was enough to keep me busy and out of trouble. We built four 200 hp units for the US Navy, and then we won a contract for the US Army, and then the Exxon Valdex oil spill hap- pened while we had the Army units under construction,? he said. So the fledgling company with the fledgling product line requested ? and ob-tained ? approval from the Army to divert the use of the 250 hp deck-mounted hy- draulically powered outboard propulsion units to the oil spill response effort, es- sentially to help power barges that worked close to shore and sprayed hot water on the rocks flush the oil down so they could skim it up off the water. ?After this job, things started going a little better for Thrustmaster.? As with any new, small company, the challenges in the early years are multiple,and in many cases, lethal. But not in the case of Thrustmaster. ?The biggest challenge in the earlydays was the lack of resources, lack of people, lack of engineering resources,lack of complete work and quality sys- tems, lack of production equipment so Iwas heavily dependent on subcontrac- tors,? Bekker said. Though the challenges came in multiples, so too did the oppor- tunities, and Bekker was never hesitant to explore new markets, including the booming gambling boat business in the late 1980s and early 1990s ? many ves- sels which had hydraulically driven Z- drives, bowthrusters and paddlewheels. ?That was a good time for us,? he said. Growth Abroad Thrustmaster of Texas is unique in an- other aspect, in that it regularly sells and ships its finished products to customers in China. ?The U.S. marine market is not that large of a market,? said Bekker. ?Currently about 75% of our business is outside of North America ? primarily to Southeast Asia, but also, Africa, Australia and Europe.Clearly Bekker?s business is driven by the hunt for offshore energy, as the move for finding oil and gas moves into in- creasingly deeper waters, demanding Dy- namically Positioned drillships, semisubmersibles, and even supply vessels ? all of which are potential customers forThrustmaster?s propulsion units. In assessing the company?s prospects today, Bekker still sees offshore drilling as the main driver, as it gets increasing business to supply its mammoth 4 and 5MW thrusters for some of the world?s most sophisticated drillships. ?Those arenice orders, because a drillship typicallyhas six 5MW thrusters; and semi sub-mersibles generally have eight 4MW thrusters, and they?re all identical so that?s nice business for us.? In addition to this, Bekker sees ample opportunities in the pipelay and subseaconstruction business, as well as the off- shore wind industry, which he sees as strong in Europe and emerging in China, and hopefully soon evolving to U.S. shores.Invest to Grow Thrustmaster of Texas believes that in- vesting in people, facilities and equip- ment is central to its long-term health andwelfare, and the edict is far more than company mantra, rather company action. Proof foremost is its gleaming fabrication facilities located at 6900 Thrustmaster Drive in Houston, a facility that was cus- tom designed and built by the company just three years ago ? at the height of theglobal economic meltdown ? to handle new loads of business. The facilities are impeccably laid out and maintained, and in fact Bekker has on the drawing boards to open a new sand blast and paint shop in 2013, and de-pending on the final results and prospects at the end of 2012, to start plans for anentirely new fabrication building. Among its latest investments: A Zeiss Computerized Coordinate Measuring Machine is installed as QCcontinuously improves manufacturing feed back program, what Bekker calls one of the largest CMMs in the U.S. A $1.5m Hancook machine, which is a Vertical Machining Center with a 12- foot rotary table.And a new $2m German make very large horizontal boring mill, using 6.5 or 7? inch boring bar with a ram to extend the boring bar further while maintainingtight tolerances.INTERVIEWJOE R. BEKKER, PRESIDENT, THRUSTMASTER Thrustmaster invested in and openedan ultra-modern production facility three years ago; clean, orderly, and producing mammoth thrusters ? among other products ? for some of the worlds largest and technically so- phisticated drillships and semi-sub-mersibles.MR#11 (10-17):MR Template 11/4/2012 12:35 PM Page 14