Lyman Morse Fabrication landing craft find a new market niche
Written by Marine Log Staff
Photo: Lyman Morse
While Thomaston, Me., headquartered Lyman-Morse is mainly known for its award-winning semi-custom sailing yachts and powerboats, its Lyman-Morse Fabrication (LMF) division has wide-ranging capabilities with its offerings including the LMF landing craft series of aluminum workboats.
The LMF landing craft series is designed to be tough enough for the most rigorous commercial use and is built to the exacting standards and high quality of execution expected from Lyman-Morse shop. These rugged workboats have found popularity as research, rescue, and work boats for universities, fire and rescue departments, and municipalities. Now, just like the Jeep Cherokee and the Land Rover Defender in the auto market, what started as a strictly no-frills work platform has gained some interest from the recreational side as well.
“We can handle just about any level of customization that is requested of us—electronics, pumps, overrun hoses, pipes—we have all that expertise in-house with everyone who works on the pleasure boats,” says Jon Egan, manager of the Lyman-Morse Fabrication division. “So, there’s a lot we can do. These are workboats, so they’re a bit more spartan than the Lyman-Morse pleasure yachts, but we can put anything anywhere a customer wants, so long as it works and fits within the constraints of the hull.“
Each LMF Landing Craft is customized to the client’s specific needs for the boat, with size capabilities ranging from 24 to 120 feet. Hull number 1 of the LMF 33, for instance, was built for the University of New Hampshire’s aquaculture research program, which required the boat to be equipped with a 3,300-pound crane mounted to the deck for easily hauling nets and traps—a request Lyman-Morse was easily able to accommodate. For one of the recent LMF 28s built for South Carolina’s Anderson County Fire Department, the vessel needed to be equipped with a built-in water tank and pump so that a hose could be connected for fire suppressions operations. Again, Lyman-Morse Fabrication took the request in its stride.
So, who’s in the market for a recreational version of these workhorses and what’s different about them?
“We’ve done a few recreational launches, and I see these recreational ones becoming a thing,” says Egan. “We built for a pleasure version for a client that has faux teak decks on it, and the inside of the house will be nicely finished. Not as plush as some of our yachts, but certainly nice for a workboat. One client, he had just bought an island off the coast and needed a way to get his tractor out there. He was doing some research on workboats, happened to see our LMF LC33 at the dock, and ordered one. I think there is real potential there, to fill that niche of expertly built expedition craft.”
- More on the LMF LC Series and other workboats from Lyman-Morse HERE
