The Great Lakes Towing Company LLC

The Great Lakes Towing Company LLC, doing business as Great Lakes Shipyard, operates as a prime contractor providing vessel maintenance, repair, drydocking, and towing services to federal maritime agencies, competing predominantly under small business set-asides and as a full-and-open competitor. The Cleveland-based for-profit Subchapter S corporation is a small business manufacturer under NAICS 336611 (Ship Building and Repairing) with no subcontract footprint; all 208 awards in the recent source data are prime awards.

The vendor's customer base concentrates heavily on the U.S. Coast Guard, which represents 85 awards worth $46.9 million in combined potential value — roughly 54% of all dollars across the portfolio. The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers (27 awards, $16.4 million combined potential value across both the parent USACE and the Buffalo Engineering District) ranks second, followed by the Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Office of Acquisitions and Grants (24 awards, $8.5 million) and the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (9 awards, $1.4 million). These top four customers account for 70% of awards and 92% of combined potential value, signaling tight customer concentration anchored by Coast Guard vessel sustainment work.

Recent representative work includes a $1.51 million firm fixed-price delivery order from the Coast Guard for drydock repairs to the CGC Neah Bay (May 2026), a $2.72 million definitive contract from the Coast Guard for dry dock repairs to the USCGC Bristol Bay and 120-foot barge (July 2024), a $1.38 million USGS contract for haulout, inspection, maintenance, and repair of the research vessel Muskie (November 2023), and an $8.40 million five-year Army Corps of Engineers tug rental service contract running through October 2027 (April 2022). Across the award portfolio, 81 awards cluster under Ship Building and Repairing; another 59 awards distribute across coastal transportation, port operations, navigational services, and marine equipment repair.

The Great Lakes Towing Company holds a $26.27 million Indefinite Delivery Contract with the Coast Guard for drydock and related repair services on 140-foot Inland Ice Breaker Cutter tugs and 120-foot barges, issued July 2025 and running through July 2026, with the initial delivery order valued at $10,000. The vendor also operates under Coast Guard IDCs ING10PC00225 (9 task orders, $836 thousand combined potential value) and HSCG4009D60050 (8 task orders, $3.8 million combined potential value), as well as Army Corps of Engineers basic ordering agreements DACW4985H0001 and DACW3592H0002. Activity has remained modest year over year — ranging from five awards in 2023 to eight in both 2022 and 2025 — with three awards (combined potential value $8.4 million) reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and facing recompete exposure.

The vendor received a $781,627 Project Grant from the Department of Transportation Maritime Administration under the Assistance to Small Shipyards program (CFDA 20.814) with an award date of July 21, 2022 and ultimate completion July 29, 2024, funding capital improvements including material handling equipment, welding packages, boom lifts, blasting and welding equipment, compressors, and an aluminum boom reel system. Service Contract Inventory reporting shows $6.2 million in SCI-reportable invoiced revenue across FY2023–FY2024 (FY2022 carried no reportable activity), with FY2023 at $5.1 million across 6.4 contract-level FTEs and FY2024 declining to $1.2 million across 1.8 FTEs. On federal service contracts captured in SCI, median government-paid rates ran around $356.25 per hour, with the 10th percentile at $237.24 per hour and 90th percentile at $442.36 per hour. The vendor operates with zero subcontract engagement across SCI-reportable prime contracts, building its own delivery teams entirely. Set-aside posture splits across Total Small Business designations (the dominant category in recent awards) and full-and-open competitive awards, with approximately 75% of combined potential value obligated to date.

The Great Lakes Towing Company is a diversified maritime holding company operating a fleet of tugboats throughout the Great Lakes providing ship assist, cargo transportation and logistics, ice breaking and emergency assistance to commercial vessels. The Company operates Great Lakes Shipyard, a full-service facility for vessel and barge construction, maintenance, repairs, and other large steel fabrications. The Great Lakes Towing Company also operates Plotz Machine, a full-service manual machine shop specializing in remanufactured replacement parts for commercial and industrial users and the repair and rebuilding of industrial pumps, cooling towers and ventilation systems.