Page 27: of Marine News Magazine (October 2020)

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SHIPBUILDING & REPAIR duced CO2 going beyond notions of simply improving vessel ef? ciency), which will have profound implications

The second of three vessels for for vessel propulsion and fuel choices. Initially, this trend

New York City’s Staten Island has driven a movement toward lique? ed natural gas (LNG)

Ferry was launched by Eastern

Shipbuilding this summer. fueled propulsion. In Pascagoula, Miss., the Halter Marine yard will soon be completing the tug barge combination

Q-Ocean Service / Q-LNG 4000, for Q-LNG. The 4,000 cubic meter unit will be contracted to Shell, and will be handling both ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore transfers of

LNG to vessels and to shoreside LNG distribution depots.

Indicative of the currents, FBS, in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., held a modern day “keel laying ceremony” (with pre-con- structed modules laid in place), in late June, for an LNG bunker barge, Clean Canaveral, that will provide fuel to shipping customers of NorthStar Midstream (tied to pri- vate investor Oaktree Capital), along the U.S. East Coast, out of Jacksonville. The 5,400 cubic meter articulated tug barge (ATB) unit will be owned by a new entity, Polaris

New Energy, which has options on two additional units.

With its Great Lakes location, FBS is also building a 28,000 dwt. self unloading bulk carrier for Interlake

Steamship, and delivered the dry bulk barge Michigan

Trader to Van Enkevort Tug and Barge in August.

he American shipbuilding scene, ? lled with partic-

Along the Gulf Coast, Eastern Shipbuilding- Panama ipants constructing all manner of vessels, has been City, Fla. has also been active in multiple segments. The navigating through stormy times (lately, yards yard is in the midst of a three-vessel order for New York

Talong the Gulf Coast have literally been dealing City’s Staten Island Ferry. The ? rst of the 4,500-passenger with storms). The orders for newbuild, repair and con- trio, Sgt Michael Ollis, is set to be delivered in late 2020 version projects continue to ? ow in—albeit at a reduced (after being delayed due to Hurricane Michael in 2018), pace—and the boats and ships go down the ways into the with a second vessel, Sandy Ground, launched in June water, but the overall panorama has seen tremendous sea 2020. The yard has continued to work, in the midst of changes as the business has shifted. the pandemic and an active hurricane season. In August,

Maritime businesses worldwide have been grappling Eastern, which had previously been a prodigious producer with currents both internal and external. Across the en- of tugboats, delivered the 5,100 hp Z-drive ship-handling tire landscape in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has tug A. Thomas Higgins to E.N. Bisso (following up on a brought about operational changes that will continue into sister vessel C.D. White delivered earlier in the year). the future, long after Americans are vaccinated. Most U.S.

Also in the Gulf, the Metal Shark facilities, encompass- shipyards were identi? ed early on as “essential businesses”, ing three locations in Louisiana and Alabama, have been and therefore continued working throughout 2020. The active, with a varied construction slate. The Bayou La Ba- proactive attitude of one yard during 2020’s pandemic tre, Ala. facility (previously the Horizon Shipyard) recently did not go unnoticed, with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding delivered a 6,000 hp boat to Florida Marine Transport- (FBS) receiving the Northeast Wisconsin Service Award. ers (FMT), the ? rst of a three boat order, and the yard’s

As explained in a press release from FBS, “The award hon- ? rst towboat for the inland marketplace. The Metal Shark ors the unsung heroes of the coronavirus who helped keep yards have also continued to deliver ferries to NYC Ferry

Wisconsin moving while the state was shut down. Honor- (in New York) and to Potomac Water Taxi, in the Wash- ees are selected for going above and beyond the call of duty ington, D.C. area. Metal Shark, also a proli? c builder of in their respective ? elds or industries.” fast boats for law enforcement and for military users, cred-

Throughout the maritime world, again re? ecting broad- its “series production” to its ability to deliver vessels rapidly er trends, talk has turned to “decarbonization” (with re- and at scale, at a time that cities such as New York seek to 27 www.marinelink.com MN