Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (August 2023)

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Feature

Shipyard Equipment hipyards across the U.S. are investing in new equip- “Schedules are tight and customers are struggling to get ment to increase lift capacity, opening up the door into bigger yards – which makes it dif? cult to keep up with

S for more projects and improved ef? ciency. the demands of vessel schedules. We hope to shorten the

Southern California-based Marine Group Boat Works, dry dock time frame for them.” which performs a mix of yacht, commercial and govern- In addition, the Stevens Towing Shipyard facility will ment vessel repair work, in 2022 repowered its 665-ton now be equipped to haul out 60-foot-wide barges, making

Marine Travelift mobile boat hoist—the largest on the the yard one a select few in the U.S. with that capability.

West Coast—with a Tier 4 John Deere engine. And ear- “Barges are getting wider; this is in response to new tech- lier this year it was awarded a MARAD Small Shipyard nology in cranes preventing excessive list during unload-

Grant worth more than $1.1 million toward the purchase ing,” Stevens explained. “We are very excited to become a of an even larger 820-ton variable width Marine Travelift regional destination for that kind of service.” hoist amid an anticipated sharp demand increase for re- Bayonne Dry Dock & Repair in Bayonne, N.J. has add- power and new construction projects to help operators ed some serious lifting capacity of its own. The yard’s new meet stricter harbor craft emissions rules put in place by Cimolai MBH 1280 mobile boat hoist has a lifting capac- the California Air Resources Board (CARB). ity of 1,280 tons and is capable of accommodating vessels

Each year, Small Shipyard Grants are awarded by the with breadths up to 50 feet, making it the largest of its

U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Admin- kind in the U.S. Northeast and opening up new business istration (MARAD) to help small shipyards modernize, opportunities. The hoist expands capacity to allow more increase productivity and expand local job opportunities. vessels—particularly barges, tugs and other workboats—to

A quick search through the awards given out over recent be serviced in the yard simultaneously.

years reveals that a large portion of the funds are being The yard’s president, Mike Cranston, said Bayonne Dry put toward equipment that will help shipyards boost their Dock spent $25 million for the project, including the hoist lifting power—welcome news for manufacturers of cranes, itself, as well as necessary infrastructure improvements for hoists, lifts and vessel transporters (see this month’s By the the facility to be able to absorb the weight of the lift and

Numbers on page 8 for a full rundown of the 2023 grants). handle more vessels at any given time. Bayonne’s newly

One of the companies awarded a Small Shipyard Grant constructed laydown area has enough space to dry dock up this year is North Kingstown, R.I. shipyard J. Goodison to eight tugs at a time for services ranging from quick ? xes

Company, which netted more than $700,000 to support and inspections to comprehensive overhauls.

the purchase of a 176-ton hydraulic self-propelled vessel

Bayonne Dry Dock & Repair’s new transporter. The new transporter will allow the shipyard mobile boat hoist is the largest to more ef? ciently serve clients such as the U.S. Navy, Na- of its kind in the U.S. Northeast, tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), unlocking new opportunities for

U.S. Coast Guard and the region’s commercial ? shing ? eet, the Bayonne, N.J. repair yard.

while expanding capacity to serve an increasing number of crew transfer vessels (CTV) that will operate in the region as offshore wind activity picks up.

Stevens Towing has also recently added lifting power to help prepare for a larger work volume, recently adding an 820-metric-ton-capacity Marine Travelift 820CII mobile boat hoist to join its 150-ton hoist already on site at its shipyard on Yonges Island in South Carolina.

“We hope to meet the needs of the dry docking for ship docking tugs in the Southeast, as well as passenger boats,” said Johnson Stevens, president at Stevens Towing.

Eric Haun www.marinelink.com MN 29|