Trinity Marine Group
Located in Gulfport, Mississippi, the Trinity Marine Group was plagued by legal troubles during its history, especially during the late 1990s, when the number of lawsuits weakened the company’s share price, and shipping conglomerate Halter Marine Group purchased a controlling share of the beleaguered company.
Many of the initial lawsuits were from clients who alleged the shipyards had produced shoddy and unsatisfactory work which was not up to the expected level of quality and workmanship. But additional lawsuits involved former Trinity employees, who discovered they were suffering from the after effects of asbestos exposure.
At the height of its operations, the Trinity group owned and operated more than 20 shipyards throughout the United States, with headquarters in Dallas. During its history, Trinity workers built and maintained a number of different types of vessels, including barges, Naval vessels, and private and corporate yachts, as well as a wide variety of marine machinery and components.
Like many shipbuilding industries in the Gulf and throughout the United States which were operated prior to the mid 1970s, many of the products used during the construction and repair of watercraft contained large amounts of asbestos. Thanks to the mineral’s high resistance to corrosion and its ability to withstand heat, asbestos seemed the perfect complement to the marine applications for which it was used. Exposed to wide ranges in temperatures and moisture levels, asbestos-based products could stand the test of time, and the base material was widely and cheaply available. Moreover, asbestos is a very flexible material with high tensile strength, making it an ideal component for gaskets, valve covers, and other items which were required to move with the ship’s rise and fall, and perform well under high heat and pressure.
Asbestos is a fibrous material, composed of millions of tiny strand-like particles which are extremely lightweight. When disturbed during manufacture, installation, removal, or repair, these fibers easily become airborne, allowing them to be inhaled by anyone in the nearby area. Once inhaled, the tiny particles lodge permanently in the lungs and airway, where they can cause potentially deadly conditions, such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer, as well as other conditions.
Asbestos-related health concerns like malignant mesothelioma can be especially difficult to diagnose early on, since symptoms can take decades to become evident. Anyone who was ever employed by Trinity should seek the advice of a health care professional who can perform screening to determine if asbestos exposure has resulted in the development of serious health problems as mesothelioma navy cases are most common.
