About
Based in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, DR Marine is the marine engineering arm of The DR Group, the UK’s largest owner-operator of guard vessels.The DR history
The DR Group was founded by marine engineer, Russ Shepcar. In 1986 Russ joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16 where he was trained to be a marine engineer. After the Navy a stint in the merchant navy working as a marine engineer on ships worldwide enabled Russ to hone his skills and in 1997 his brother Danny invited him in to join his business in Scotland, servicing the Scottish marine sector. The natural progression was the formation of a new marine engineering company, DR Diesel. Danny + Russ, D+R = DR. The brand you see today was born.
In 1999 a contract brought DR Diesel and Russ to Northern Ireland. He loved it so much that he set up a workshop in Kilkeel, the home of Northern Ireland’s largest fishing fleet, and stayed. Danny stayed in Scotland whilst Russ created a new path in Northern Ireland with DR Diesel, servicing the Northern Irish fishing fleet. Having acquired fishing boats as opportunities opened up for UKCS guard work (under DR Boats), Russ adapted them into specialist guard vessels and in 2008 entered the Maritime Asset Protection market.
The birth of DR Marine
In 2018 the business naturally evolved into a Group structure, under which the newly formed DR Marine (the workshop and marine engineers based in Kilkeel, previously DR Diesel) sits alongside sister company DR Maritime Assets (previously DR Boats), which provides ‘maritime assets’ – specialist people, vessels and tech – to deliver Guard and Utility Vessel contracts. Russ takes a hands-on role as Chief Engineer in DR Marine ensuring our high standards are met.
PHOTO: Russ Shepcar, CEO & Chief Engineer, a hands-on role
PHOTO: Russ Shepcar, CEO & Chief Engineer, a hands-on role
The birth of DR Marine
In 2018 the business naturally evolved into a Group structure, under which the newly formed DR Marine (the workshop and marine engineers based in Kilkeel, previously DR Diesel) sits alongside sister company DR Maritime Assets (previously DR Boats), which provides ‘maritime assets’ – specialist people, vessels and tech – to deliver Guard and Utility Vessel contracts. Russ takes a hands-on role as Chief Engineer in DR Marine ensuring our high standards are met.
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