Posted on October 13, 2026
Following on Monday’s post about Tallvine’s Crosby acquisition. The more interesting story is what the three deals look like together and its timeline.
Tallvine Partners just bought its third U.S. marine company in twelve months. This time, it moved into the Gulf.
The run so far:
September 2025 — Donjon Marine Co., LLC
Dredging, salvage, heavy lift, towing and marine infrastructure, with a major East Coast and Great Lakes footprint.
May 2026 — Lind Marine
San Francisco Bay dredging, towing, barges, shipyard work and marine sand operations.
September 2026 — Crosby
Gulf Coast and inland waterways.
Crosby is the largest fleet addition of the three: more than 150 tugs, dredges and support vessels, plus shipyard and berth facilities in Houma and Port Fourchon.
Crosby reported roughly 850 employees before the sale.
Towing. Dredging. Rock placement. Marine construction support. Shipyard services.
East/Great Lakes. West. Gulf.
Tallvine itself calls this its North America marine infrastructure platform.
The Crosby price wasn’t disclosed.
What we do know from the bankruptcy process is that a Tallvine affiliate originally put forward a $75 million stalking-horse cash bid for vessel-related assets. JMB Capital separately offered roughly $70 million, largely through a credit bid for the interest in Luhr Crosby, the heavy-marine construction JV.
Those were bidding-process numbers, not disclosed final transaction values.
What interests me now is what happens after the acquisitions.
Tallvine says it plans to invest in people, fleet and infrastructure and share expertise across the platform.
My read is that the harder part won’t be connecting the balance sheets.
It will be connecting three very different operating cultures without losing the local knowledge that made each company valuable.
A dredge can move.
A tug can move.
The superintendent, captain or estimator who knows a market, a customer and a piece of equipment after twenty years is harder to move.
Tallvine also brought in Mike Ellis as an operating advisor. Ellis ran American Commercial Barge Line from 2020 through 2024 and previously held senior roles at Savage Services, Settoon Towing and Bollinger Shipyards.
So if you’re bidding against Donjon, Lind or Crosby next year, I wouldn’t assume you’re bidding against exactly the same organization you knew in 2024.
If private capital bought your company tomorrow, which asset gets scrutinized first: the underutilized vessel or the irreplaceable person running it?
