Products

MER (Marine Engines & Repair Co. Inc.) was founded in 1964.  At the time there was a need for a company in Seattle that would support the commercial fishing fleet with engines, generators, drive train components, and spare parts in remote locations of Alaska during the fishing and fish processing season. 

Ivan Fox was a 40 year veteran of the Alaska Commercial fishing business.  He was the production manager for the largest fish processor in the state.  To support his fleet he needed a responsive engine parts and service supplier that would answer the phone 24/7 and ship parts regardless of the time of day.  The only way he could find such a dedicated supplier was to start his own company with Larry Schusted, an accomplished Port Engineer. 

To this day the mandate of MER is to support the work boat fleet of the Pacific Northwest.  We’ve been called the best little engine company on the west coast.  Our goal, to start with the most reliable engines, generators, and power transmission equipment we can find.  We build them into custom products tailored for the work boat fleet.  We focus on fuel efficiency, ease of maintenance, longevity, protection devices, sound reduction, and ease of installation.   All aimed at the goal of minimizing the cost of ownership for our customers. 

Most of our customers use their equipment to a make a living.  They are primarily repeat customers or new ones that have come to us from the recommendation of a friend. Typically an engine or generator sale is an interview process.  Questions asked and answered with the goal of engineering a long term solution to a need.  The goal isn’t to minimize the initial up-front cost or to maximize our profits.  Our prices are a function of our materials costs.  If you buy a product from MER you probably paid a little more than you could have for an “off the shelf” solution.  We have found over the years it is in our customer’s interest to spend a little more up front, get it right the first time, and save a small fortune in the long haul. 

Just because we’re on call 24/7 for parts and service doesn’t mean we want to hear from you on Sunday afternoon because your engine won’t start.  We want to see you @ Fish Expo to hear how you never had a break down, your equipment is running flawlessly, and shouldn’t you be thinking about preventive maintenance. Because your gensets have 40,000 hours now and you haven’t put a wrench on it since we shipped it to you.  Our objective is to help you keep the hard earned money you make.

The owners of MER Equipment are crab and salmon fishermen, marine engineers, fabricators and mechanics.  Our family and friends are all fishermen, processors, work boat captains, engineers, and port engineers.  We’re a third generation commercial fishing family and we’re in this business because we like what we do, it shows in our work and the products we build.  Have we made mistakes “we’re human” do we fix them – that’s our pledge.

You know if it’s mechanical it wears out and eventually fails, usually at the worst time.  If it’s engineered and applied correctly from the start, it lasts longer, it’s more economical to own and it’s easy to maintain.  There is no tool more expensive than the cheap one that didn’t do the job.

We try very hard to support the American worker.  Whenever we can we buy the one made in America.  Sometimes it costs a little more but the money stays home to circulate in our economy, to support American schools and families.