Founded by Robert Del Valle in 1973, International Ship Repair was purchased by George and Carl Lorton in 1990. The Lorton brothers sparked dramatic growth by adding dry dock capabilities to the Tampa shipyard. In 1997, International Ship Repair expanded its comprehensive repair services to include conversion capabilities for the lengthening and re-powering of ships.

In 1998, CEO George Lorton gained sole ownership of the Tampa shipyard, and concurrently added the company’s fourth dry dock. In 2002, a fifth dry dock was added (the largest floating dry dock in Florida), affording International Ship Repair the largest number of operational dry docks in Florida.

Those five drydocks were retired gradually and DD#7, DD#8 and DD #9/10 (Panamax Drydock) were purchased as demand from clients to bring us larger vessels and to handle bigger projects, so ISR has grown at pace to match the need for greater capacity.