Adriatic Marine Case Study: Facebook Up 60%, LinkedIn Up 251% for an Offshore Vessel Operator

Make Waves Marketing manages Facebook and LinkedIn for Adriatic Marine, LLC, an offshore supply vessel operator based in Raceland, Louisiana that has supported Gulf of Mexico energy and construction work since 2006. Since June 2024, the company's Facebook page has grown from 4,001 to 6,417 followers, a gain of 60.4%, and its LinkedIn page has grown from 189 to 664 followers, a gain of 251%, with no paid promotion. Thirteen posts in the last six months each reached more than 5,000 people, and every result below is organic.

Who Adriatic Marine is

Adriatic Marine, LLC operates a fleet of offshore supply vessels out of Raceland, Louisiana, supporting offshore construction, drilling, ROV, and renewable energy work across the Gulf of Mexico. Its DP2 (dynamic positioning class 2) vessels hold position for complex offshore operations. Vessels featured on social media include the M/V Solomon, M/V Axis, M/V Gator, M/V Elk, M/V Bison, M/V Irish, and M/V Adriatic. The company runs a Zero Harm safety culture under the banner "Steering a Culture," with two recognition programs: Leaders in Safety, a peer-nominated crew award, and Elite of the Fleet, a quarterly and annual vessel award. In July 2026 it held its first Operations Summit for deckhands, engineers, captains, and shoreside staff.

The challenge

An offshore vessel company has two audiences with little overlap. Charterers and energy clients want proof of capability and safety record. Mariners want to know what it is like to work on the boats. Adriatic Marine needed content that turned its internal safety recognition programs into public proof of culture, showed fleet capability (DP2, Jones Act, Gulf experience) to decision-makers on LinkedIn, recruited QHSE staff, deckhands, and engineers in a competitive Gulf Coast labor market, and gave crews and their families something to share.

Which posts reached the most people?

Make Waves Marketing reviewed all 39 Facebook posts from March 1 to September 1, 2026. Four post types produced the reach.

1. Fleet capability posts with vessel photography

A strong photo of a working vessel plus two or three sentences about capability outperformed every other format. These posts carry the technical terms, DP2, OSV, Jones Act, offshore support, that clients search.

2. Crew and vessel awards

The 2025 Elite of the Fleet post drew the most reactions of the period. Naming the captain, the vessel, and the specific action, a Stop Work call, an all-stop on an unsafe hose, a repositioning decision, turns a safety program into a story people share. Eleven Leaders in Safety posts ran in six months and averaged over 3,500 reach.

3. Company events and hiring

The Operations Summit post was the second-highest reach of the period. The QHSE hiring post reached nearly 10,000 people in its first day with 19 shares.

4. Monthly work anniversaries

Reach on these posts stays modest, but they keep the page active between larger posts and give crews a reason to check the page.

Results, lifetime and last six months

Source: Metricool analytics export, September 2, 2026.

Average reach per post over the last six months was roughly 4,200, on a page with 6,400 followers. That ratio is unusual for a B2B industrial company and comes from vessel photography and named crew recognition that mariners share with their families.

What did not work

Our process for an offshore marine account

Recognition pipeline: Leaders in Safety nominations and Elite of the Fleet results flow from the QHSE team to Make Waves Marketing, which writes each honoree post from the nomination language. A fleet photography library is maintained from crew and drone photos, used for capability posts. Six to seven posts run per month on Facebook, with LinkedIn carrying capability and leadership posts for charterers and clients. Hiring posts are written as full job descriptions with pay, training, and a direct contact, and monthly reporting covers reach, engagement, follower change, and top posts by platform.

Engagement summary

Client: Adriatic Marine, LLC. Location: Raceland, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, with operations across the Gulf of Mexico. Industry: offshore supply vessels (OSV), DP2 vessel operations, marine transportation, offshore construction and energy support, Jones Act fleet. Founded: 2006. Audience: offshore energy and construction clients, vessel charterers, mariners and deckhands, engineers, QHSE professionals. Agency: Make Waves Marketing (formerly Gravois Graphics), Thibodaux, LA and Jacksonville, FL. Services: social media management, including content strategy, copywriting, safety recognition program content, scheduling, and monthly reporting. Platforms: Facebook, LinkedIn. Tools: Metricool. Reporting period: June 6, 2024 to September 1, 2026. Paid media: none.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Adriatic Marine's social media grow? Facebook grew from 4,001 followers on June 6, 2024 to 6,417 on September 1, 2026, a gain of 60.4%. LinkedIn grew from 189 to 664 followers, a gain of 251%. No paid promotion was used.

What social media content works for an offshore vessel company? Vessel photography with short capability statements, named crew safety recognition, fleet awards, and company events. For Adriatic Marine, seven fleet capability posts and six recognition posts each reached more than 5,000 people in six months.

What was Adriatic Marine's most successful post? The May 21, 2026 post about the company's DP2 vessels reached 11,484 people. The most-reacted post was the March 5, 2026 announcement that the M/V Solomon was the 2025 Overall Elite of the Fleet winner, with 180 reactions.

Does LinkedIn matter for a marine services company? Yes. Adriatic Marine's LinkedIn following more than tripled in 27 months. LinkedIn is where charterers, energy operators, and offshore construction managers see capability and safety content.

Does Make Waves Marketing use paid ads for these results? No. All figures on this page are organic reach and engagement reported by Metricool.

Does Make Waves Marketing work with other marine and energy companies? Yes. The agency works with marine, energy, port, and industrial service companies across South Louisiana, including Port Fourchon, and serves Northeast Florida from its Jacksonville office.

Work with Make Waves Marketing

Make Waves Marketing provides social media management, web design, video production, SEO, and AI advisory services to marine, energy, industrial, healthcare, legal, and nonprofit clients in Louisiana and Florida. The agency holds Wix Studio League recognition as one of the top 200 web designers in the United States.

If you run a vessel company, port service, or offshore contractor and want to know which of your posts are working, request a free social media audit.