Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 16, 1985)

West Coast Shipyards (continued)

AK), was delivered to the Navy, and in May the yard turned over the

Maj. Stephen W. Pless, the last of the three-ship T-AK contract. Dur- ing the last half of 1984, a quarters building, generator station, and temporary work decks were deliv- ered by the Offshore Division.

NASSCO's facilities include a 25,000-ton floating drydock, a building dock in which ships up to 980 feet by 170 feet can be con- structed, three inclined building ways, cranes that can provide lifts up to 175 tons, and 10 full-sevice berths.

Current facility upgrading in- cludes dredging to re-establish a 35- foot water depth alongside the piers, increased electrical and utility sup- plies, a newly built pier, and a facili- ty for berthing barges.

While placing a heavier emphasis on the repair of ships, NASSCO is actively seeking work in all seg- ments of the shipbuilding and off- shore markets. Constant monitoring of market trends and timely action will insure that NASSCO maintains a position in the forefront of the

U.S. shipbuilding industry.

NICHOLS BROTHERS

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Nichols Brothers Boat Builders,

Inc. has found a niche as a builder of a wide variety of specialty boats, and a level of sophistication that belies the company's pastoral set-

STEP UP WITH WESTPORT

Now the Source of Fiberglass Vessels to 120 Feet

Westport—the source for large fiberglass/Airex

Coast Guard certified tour and excursion vessels finished to yacht quality standards— now offers boats up to 120 feet. In fact, no other builder can match West- port's size range in fiber- glass... Examples of our capabilities currently afloat: The 150-passenger, 80-foot GLACIER SPIRIT tours the waters of Prince

William Sound in Alaska.

The 80-foot AVALON EXPRESS, a 150-passenger high speed ferry, makes the run from Los Angeles to Catalina at 20 knots. The new 90-foot CATALINA EXPRESS will make the same run at 25 knots... Not only do our fiberglass passenger boats have the "yacht" look and finish, they can out-perform metal boats where it counts—speed, maintenance, and cost...

Westport's craftsmen can customize the lines of a new mold to meet different speed and load require- ments for hulls from 90 to 120 feet. With this mold,

Westport now offers the widest range of fiber- glass capabilities in the industry...Two ,-.:- versatile molds from 65 to 120 feet, state-of-the- art automated fiber- glass equipment, an efficient modern plant, and a friendly crew allow us to deliver the best values available in fiberglass passenger and work boats...

Discuss your next tour or other working boat with us. Both your passengers and your accountant will enjoy stepping up with

Westport.

Westport Shipyard, Inc.

P.O. Box 308, Westport, WA 98595 • (206) 268-0117 t&TJ»0 ting on Whidbey Island, Wash. In particular, the company, which marked its 20th anniversary last year, took a bold approach to mar- keting a line of fast, economical cat- amarans designed by an Australian firm.

At midyear, with four of the In- ternational Catamaran-designed vessels already delivered, Nichols

Brothers had letters of intent for some four 86-foot, 400-passenger catamarans, most headed for the developing market for high-speed commuter vessels.

Nichols' first catamaran, the 72- foot Klondike delivered in 1984, now plies the Yukon River in Alas- ka. The second was the 72-foot, 212- passenger Spirit of Alderbrook, now in both scheduled and excursion service on Puget Sound. Before heading north, the Klondike partici- pated in two significant tests under lease to Crowley Maritime—sched- uled service to Catalina Island from

San Pedro and from San Francisco to the Marin Peninsula.

Buoyed by the success of the

Klondike on San Francisco Bay,

Crowley's Red & White Fleet or- dered an 86-foot, 400-passenger, 30- knot catamaran. Named the Cata- marin, she was delivered recently and is now operating between San

Francisco and points in Marin

County across the Bay.

Crowley's Blue & Gold Fleet also ordered a similar vessel, the Gold

Rush, for use on the Bay. Upon her recent completion, however, the ves- sel began a three-month test and demonstration trial on the Inside

Passage in Southwestern Alaska un- der lease to Exploration Cruise

Lines.

Catamarans are not the only ves- sels built by the 100 to 150 em- ployees at the company's 10-acre yard in Freeland and completed at an outfitting dock in Langley. The

City of San Francisco, a dinner/ excursion vessel with lines from the 1890s, was delivered to Hornblower

Yachts of Berkeley in November 1984. This vessel will accommodate 900 people in various lounges, dance floors, and banquet facilities.

The Seattle fireboat Chief Seattle was christened in August last year.

Capable of 26 knots, this craft will deliver 7,500 gallons per minute from an assortment of monitors.

The aluminum passenger ferry

McNeil, delivered in April, is a 66- foot, 200-person vessel that operates between Fort Steilacoom and the

Washington State Correction Cen- ter on McNeil Island carrying pas- sengers and supplies.

Nichols Brothers also built a se- ries of yard-designed, shallow-hull tugs during the past 18 months.

Other vessels delivered recently in- clude the 3,600-bhp tractor tug

Portland for Shaver Transporta- tion, 152-foot cruise vessels for Ex- plorer Cruise Lines, and the 4,000- cubic-yard, split hopper dredge

Newport for Manson Construction and Engineering.

NORTHWEST MARINE

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Northwest Marine Iron Works

Circle 127 on Reader Service Card 18 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News