Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1991)

U.S. BOATBUILDING REPORT

Industry Survey Reveals Substantial Rise

In Shallow-Draft Vessel Construction

Tank, Deck Barge Construction and Repair Jump In 1990

A recent report released by an organization representing American shipyards who serve the shallow- draft, coastal and harbor sectors of the U.S., revealed that there was a substantial increase in tank and deck barge construction and repair activity during 1990.

The report, the "1990 Annual

Shipyard Survey," was published by the American Waterways Shipyard

Conference (AWSC) and is based on its members' responses. Member yards of the organization, which is a conference of the American Water- ways Operators (AWO), stretch along the East, West and Gulf

Coasts, as well as the banks of in- land waterways of the U.S.

Employment Levels

Best In 10 Years

One important trend revealed in the survey is the significant recov- ery in the employment sector at these second-tier yards, a clear indication of an improvement in work activity in this area of the marine market.

Table 1, "Employment Levels in

Second-Tier Shipyards, 1981-1990," which shows the number of employ- ees for each given year, indicates that employment levels at small- and medium-sized yards have reached their best levels in 10 years.

Employment levels peaked in 1981 at 91,125 and had declined by 58 percent to a low of 37,398 in 1985.

Since 1985, however, employment has gradually increased, showing jumps of 32 percent in 1989 and 28 percent in 1990.

Construction Of

Power-Driven Boats

Shows Drop-Off

The responses from the second- tier facilities substantiate the fact that there is a recovery being expe- rienced in this sector. Although there

The Viking 2000 towboat Karen K. under construction at Avondale Boat Division. was a drop-off in the number of power-driven vessels, which range from towboats, tugs and fishing ves- sels to offshore supply boats, crew boats, ferries, excursion/dinner boats and military vessels.

Although not specifically dis- cussed in the survey, the area of riverboat gambling represents a sig- nificant growth sector for second- tier shipyards. With the passage of legislation legalizing gambling in certain counties of Iowa, Illinois and

Mississippi, the first orders for gam- ing vessels and casino riverboats were placed in 1990. With other states like Louisiana joining the gaming circuit, some analysts expect as many as 50 vessels to be built for this sector over the next five years.

Nineteen-ninety also saw the first significant number of orders for off- shore supply vessels since the boom years in the early 1980s.

Table 1 iployment Levels At Second-Tier Shipyards (1 981-1 990)

Thousands 100 80 20 l# of employees 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90

Source: AWSC Annual Construction Survey

Tanker, Deck Barge

Construction Up

Although the survey indicates a slight decrease in river barge con- struction, from 2,180 barges in 1989 to 2,128 barges in 1990, certain ar- eas of this category showed a marked improvement. The total number of river tank and deck barges, for in- stance, jumped four-fold and three- fold from 1989 to 1990. The number of tank barges under construction went from 62 in 1989 to 234 in 1990.

Deck barge construction jumped from 121 vessels in 1989 to 375 ves- sels in 1990. Hopper barge con- struction slipped from 1,937 vessels in 1989 to 1,456 in 1990.

Offshore barge construction across the board—dry cargo hopper and deck barges, tank barges, ma- chinery, work and miscellaneous barges—also decreased.

Repair Activity Up

In Offshore Barges

Increases in offshore barge re- pair activity were substantial based on the respondents' answers, in- creasing from 1,655 vessels in 1989 to 7,629 vessels in 1990—a whop- ping six-fold increase. The survey projects that there was a 78 percent increase in offshore barge repair ac- tivity nationwide in the second-tier shipyard industry, based on a sta- tistical formula applied to the data.

The survey shows that, in par- ticular, offshore dry cargo hopper and deck barge repair activity al- most doubled, while offshore tank barge repair leaped almost ten- fold—from 572 vessels repaired in 1989 to 5,546 in 1990.

River barge repair activity was up as well, jumping from 48,407 barges repaired in 1989 to 56,297 repaired in 1990. Repairs to hop- pers, LASH and Seabee type barges were responsible for most of the in- creased activity.

New Construction Activity

At Second-Tier Shipyards # of vessels in thousands

CD Power-Driven Vessels

C3 River Barges • Offshore Barges • r-n rTn Ih'rk Tl 81 82 83 84

Source: AWSC Annual Construction Survey 85 86

Year 87 88 89 90

Repair Activity At Second-Tier Yards (1981-1990) (# of vessels in thousands)

Source: AWSC Annual Construction Survey 38 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News