Houston, Texas – October 23rd, 2020 – The Shearer Group, Inc. (TSGI) is celebrating 10 years of business! In 2010, Gregory Beers, P.E. and Cory Wood, purchased the assets of Shearer & Associates, Inc. from Ed Shearer, P.E. and formed TSGI. TSGI provides naval architecture, marine engineering, and marine surveying services to the inland marine market. TSGI is a combination of what Mr. Shearer spent decades building at Shearer & Assoc., Inc. and that of which Mr. Beers and Mr. Wood have spent over the past 25 years building at Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI).
BHGI is a full-service naval architecture, marine engineering, and consulting firm located in Bristol, RI. Mr. Beers and Mr. Wood started BHGI out of their college house at the University of Michigan in 1993. BHGI focuses on the bluewater commercial sector and government clients. BHGI specializes in the design of tugs, barges, Articulated Tug/Barge Units (ATB) passenger vessels, workboats, and floating dry docks.
Both companies are separate legal entities but are owned by Mr. Beers and Mr. Wood. They are considered sister companies as regards to resource allocation and mutual support. The support goes in both directions. It is not uncommon for BHGI personnel to be working on TSGI projects at the same time TSGI personnel are supporting BHGI projects. Between the two companies, there is a wealth of experience and skill sets that are applied to best fit every project.
Mr. Shearer continues to work for TSGI as a Principal Naval Architect. His 50 plus years of knowledge and experience in the inland market has provided TSGI and its young engineers with a great foundation and understanding of the industry. TSGI’s engineering manager, Joshua Sebastian, P.E., started at BHGI as a naval architect and was promoted to engineering manager shortly after TSGI was formed. Mr. Sebastian has done a wonderful job implementing BHGI’s corporate ethos at TSGI and steering the company forward. Under Mr. Sebastian’s leadership, TSGI has grown significantly, adding employees and growing a diverse clientele that includes vessel operators, shipyards, and government entities.
TSGI has been on the cutting edge of applying marine technology to the inland marine industry by being a leader in implementing diesel-electric propulsion, energy storage, and LNG as a fuel, while also applying the latest in engineering technology such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. Recent projects at TSGI include the design and construction oversight for a 500 passenger / 70 auto double-ended diesel-electric ferry for the Texas Department of Transportation; design of a 23,000 BBL tank barge for Southwest Shipyard, L.P.; design and engineering of four (4) z-drive towboats for SCF; LNG conversion designs; and multiple barge designs for inland clients. TSGI has a strong backlog of barge design work which continues to expand. TSGI and its talented staff continues to grow and evolve, and we look forward to tackling the challenges that the next decade is sure to bring.
