Midvale Ship Costume Manufacturer Focuses on Demand for Rescue Operations

Local vessel manufacturer Duck Water Boats focuses on strength, durability and safety, drawing on nearly 30 years of experience to build high-quality hunting and fishing boats to create lifeboats designed to meet the unique needs of emergency personnel.

The Middelville-based company currently produces several different types and sizes of fully welded aluminum lifeboats. The production line includes an 18-foot ship with a side door and a 14-foot version with a retractable front door, both of which can Customized according to the needs of rescue workers.

The 14-foot version has been purchased and put into service by volunteer fire departments in the towns of Leesville and Warwick, and the company has also built a custom rescue boat for the Dover Fire Department.

“We are like Burger King – you can use your way,” said company president and owner Steve Hoover. “Each ship we do is basically custom-made. The fire department, if they say we need a ship of this size, this width, this length, we can do it.”

According to Hoover, in addition to rescuing rescue boats, these rescue boats are always sold at reasonable prices and the company is also willing to provide vessel loans to regional fire departments to assist in rescue operations during extreme flood events.

“For us, it is also advertising, but it is also the community’s help,” Hoover explained. “If they are there to flood, they need boats. They have to get people out. They have to let the animals go out. When it comes to this, we are not opposed to helping anyone.”

One of the company’s most recent 18-foot rescue boats was recently provided to the mining city’s volunteer fire department to help with water rescues in areas that flooded many properties and roads in the upper reaches of the Tuscarawas River.

Captain Jason Erie explained that the department already had an inflatable boat for water rescue operations, but the renter would come in handy if a second rescue boat was needed.

“If we need it, we have an extra one,” he shared. “Steve’s boat is an all-aluminum boat, so if we’re going to get into a bunch of unknown situations, such as covered trees or something we can’t see as underwater, then we’re more likely to use Stie The boat of the husband. ”

Hoover pointed out that the ship was originally designed as a fishing boat. “In the middle of the ship, there is a door that plunges down into the water. It actually has a crank system and a whole nine yards, you can lower it and bend it, then lock it in place and seal it.” explain. “You can walk through the water under this door, not even water into the boat.”

According to Erie, so far, the ship was mainly used for training purposes and has not yet been put into water for rescue. However, he pointed out that the department did bring the ship to the site of the latest rescue operation.

“We had three ships on the site and never put one of them into the water,” said Eli, who spoke of the joint response of the fire department in Bolívar and the Mineral City. “The water is actually just deep in the waist, so several people put the immersion suits on them and then they walk to the guy.”

Erie pointed out that the most recent flood in the area was the worst since the 2005 floods, which caused the closure of State 800. “Since then, I can count on the time we support and our current level,” he said.

In addition to rescue boats, the company also produces a variety of high-quality aluminum hunting and fishing boats, and offers a variety of different product lines for different water quality conditions.

Hoover pointed out that the company recently launched a series of ships called the Bluewater series, aiming to compete with the fishing boats currently on the market. “This will be a more dual-purpose boat, so if you are a duck hunter or fisherman, this will be an ideal boat,” he explained. “It is made of thick-edged aluminum. It has a flat-top deck instead of a slope.”

Another new ship called the Back Bay or BB series is currently under costume manufacturer development. “What it has to do is use it to even go to Lake Erie. It has more V systems. It will have a higher side. It will be all welded,” Hoover explained. “You can enter a river. You don’t have to worry about the ship’s rolling or something like that. Its advantage is that it still has our unique hull design. It can only completely fill six inches of water.”

However, the pillar of the company is still its eponymous name. “We make a variety of duck boats,” he said. “We can build anywhere from an 8-foot boat to a 32-foot boat.”