Navigation : EXPO21XX > YACHTING 21XX > H13: Equipments and Accessories > Westerbeke Corporation

Westerbeke Corporation

Company Profile

Westerbeke Corporation was founded in 1937 by John H. Westerbeke Sr. The Company is engaged in the design, manufacturing, and sale of diesel and gasoline marine engines and generators, industrial diesel generators, and marine air conditioners. Since the Company began, Westerbeke has designed and built diesel engines and generators for a wide variety of uses. As early as 1938, Westerbeke was one of the first companies to introduce the Detroit Diesel 6-71 into marine use. In 1959, the Company began to marinize small diesel engine blocks from Perkins. This created the market for small marine diesels primarily for sailboat auxiliary power. The same engines were also used for marine diesel generators. In the 1980's the Company revolutionized the marine diesel market by introducing a line of quiet, compact, lightweight dependable generators that were the smallest available anywhere. Presently, the Company marinizes diesel and gasoline engines from several leading manufacturers. Westerbeke engines range from 7 to 170 horsepower, while the generators have a range of 3.8 to 95 kilowatts. Westerbeke has also designed and built engines and generators for highly specialized applications, several of which are non-marine. These include special sub-zero cold start generators for the Aurora Australis project at the reactivated Admiral Byrd base in the Antarctic, an eight hundred kilowatt standby diesel generator in use by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Lottery Commission, and a custom mobile generators for use by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency in measuring air quality in the Adirondack Mountains. Westerbeke developed and was issued a US patent on a LubeCell - a device which injects oil into the cylinders to improve cold weather startup of diesel engines. The Company employs over 120 full time people. The Company's executive and administrative offices and manufacturing operations are located in Taunton, Massachusetts in an approximately 110,000 square foot facility owned by the Company.