Page 64: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1994)

WiSI COAST YARD REVIEW

Nichols Bros, recently delivered the Bay Breeze.

Projects currently underway include five 106 ft. (32.3 m) pleasure yachts for Westship Yachts,

Inc. of Florida, and two high-speed monohull passenger-only ferries for Catalina Express, a private company operating the 100-ft. (30.5 m) ferries along the Southern California coast.

As a noted fiberglass specialist, Westport in- ventories a wide selection of fixed and adjustable hull molds ranging from 46- to 130-ft. (14- to 39.6-m) lengths with the greatest emphasis on the 80- to 118-ft. (24.4- to 35.9-m) range in a variety of designs.

Westport recently received USCG concept approval on a combination fiberglass and alumi- num hull capable of carrying 150 to 400 passen- gers. They will combine their fiberglass exper- tise with the aluminum know-how of Nichols

Bros. Boat Builders, its partner in this unique joint proposal. Westport hopes to begin con- struction on this new design in the near future.

Vancouver Shipyards, Vancouver/Victoria,

B.C., Canada: The Vancouver Shipyard con- sists of three separate facilities, two in Vancouver and a third in Victoria.

The Victoria yard is used strictly for repair work and features a 1,173 ft. x 126 ft. (357.5 m x 38.4 m) graving dock.

Of the two yards situated in Vancouver, one is used for new construction, the other for repairs.

The repair yard has a 720-ft. x 150-ft. (219.5-m x 45.7-m) floating drydock with a 36,000-ton lift.

New-construction facilities include a 550-ft. x 100-ft. (167.6-m x 30.5-m), side-launch building berth.

Past projects include ferry, cruiseliner, and tanker repair, and ferry, tug and barge construc- tion.

The B.C. Ferry System's ambitious renova- tion and expansion plans play a positive role in the future of Vancouver Shipyards. With the recent closure of Yarrow Ltd., a major competi- tor in the ferry business, Vancouver plans to be a contender for the upcoming work. Vancouver is a full-service yard, and boasts the largest heavy machine shop in the area. Marketing

Manager Bill Armstrong said that "quality work and quick turn-arounds" are Vancouver's hallmarks.

Portland Shipyard, Portland, Oregon: For- merly Portland Ship Repair, the name was changed to more accurately reflect the facility's scope of work.

Portland has three active drydocks, among them a 982-ft. x 185-ft. (299.3-m x 56.4-m) with an 87,000 long-ton lift capacity making it the largest floating drydock in the Americas.

Portland currently works with two primary contractors, West State, Inc., and Cascade Gen- eral, Inc., and is actively seeking foreign contrac- tors in the building and conversion trade.

VLCCs, the Alaska tanker fleet, and MarAd support vessels have been its primary focus, but

Dick Montgomery, spokesman for Portland, sees cruise ships as the major growth area for the yard. Holland America's Rotterdam and

Westerdam are scheduled for brief visits this fall.

Eight to 12 more cruise ships are expected in the next year.

Marine Industries Northwest, Inc. (MINI),

Tacoma, Wash.: Primarily a repair and conver- sion yard, company President Don Slater sees

MINI changing its focus from the fishing indus- try to the oil trade and oil spill response vessels.

MINI builds a unique ABS- and USCG-ap- proved removable module for barges and other oil spill response vessels. The module provides ves- sel flexibility by allowing a certification change from unstaffed to staffed barges with the modules attachment.

Zidell Shipyard, Portland, Ore.: Zidell oper- ates a cargo barge leasing operation and builds all its fleet barges at its Portland yard.

Currently under construction are two ocean- going, flat-deck barges, one measuring 375 ft. x 36 ft. (114.3 m x 10.9 m), the other 285 ft. x 78 ft. (86.9 m x 23.8 m).

Cadenza Marine, San Diego, Calif.: Cadenza is working on a prototype for its SSHARP ferries, a futuristic passenger-only vessel consisting of a narrow hull balanced atop Hydrolance's Wave

Piercer rails. The vessels will carry rotary en- gines and utilize a proprietary waterjet propul- sion system.

For additional information on any of the vessel builders mentioned in this U.S. West

Coast review, circle the corresponding num- ber on the Reader Service Card bound in this issue.

Cadenza Marine 37

Marine Industries Northwest Inc 38

NASSCO 9

Nichols Bros. Boatbuilders 40

Portland Shipyard 41

Todd Shipyard 2

Westport Shipyards 3

Vancouver Shipyards 44

Zidell Shipyard 5

For news on select West Coast Suppli- ers, see product information on page 55.

PORTLAND SHIPYARD has three active dry docks, including a 982-ft. x 185-ft. (299.3-m x 56.4-m), 87,000-long ton lift capacity floating dry dock. 44 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News