All photos: Halter Marine
INSIGHTS
Robert “Bob” Merchent
President and CEO, Halter Marine
Please describe your professional background and what attracted you to your current position.
In June 2020, I was named president and chief executive officer of Halter Marine. I had been retired around six years. My wife and I bought a piece of property outside of Brookhaven, Miss., and we were enjoying retired life split between our country property and our home in Gautier, Miss. Earlier this year, I was asked if I would consider a consulting role for Halter Marine, which led to my eventual position as CEO. www.marinelink.com
I have a Bachelor’s of Science degree in business management from the University of Southern Mississippi, as well as certificates on executive leadership from the Harvard Business School, executive finance from the Wharton School of Business and executive marketing from the University of Maryland. I spent most of my career at Ingalls Shipbuilding, leading programs critical to both the business and the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Ingalls is an exceptional shipyard building major surface combatants, amphibious assault ships and Coast Guard cutters for the government. Ingalls is true national asset. My time there culminated in the role as the Vice President, Surface Combatants, Fleet Services and U.S. Coast Guard Programs. It’s because of my extensive experience with Coast Guard programs that I was both attracted to the role at Halter Marine and perhaps why I was asked to join the company. During my time at Ingalls working on the National Security Cutter program, I observed several U.S. Coast Guard commandants state how important our icebreakers were to our national strategy. The fact remains that the few ice breakers we have in service today are way beyond the end of their planned service life. And our nation is incurring exorbitant costs keeping these few assets operational. The bottom line is our nation sorely needs a fleet of new icebreakers in order to fulfill the missions levied on our U.S. MN 13
