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Looking around U.S. ship and boat yards, one would be hard-pressed to find many brimming with optimism. One of the industry?s prime drivers, the offshore oil and gas business in the Gulf of Mexico, is slowly starting to come back to life in the wake of the massive oil spill and resulting drilling moratorium; and as the country struggles with a historic debtload, the U.S. Navy budget is squarely in the crosshairs of legislators. But as the global maritime market struggles to deal with the global economic collapse and still-lingering finan- cial malaise, it is evident that opportunities abound, particu- larly for those companies adept at finding them or making them. Increasingly stringent environmental regulations mean that the newest generation of ships and boats will have to be nearly environmentally benign; and while the offshore O&G business has its historical peaks and troughs, the appetite for ?clean? energy via offshore wind and tide systems is opening new areas to serve. Case in point was Harvey Gulf?s an- nouncement late last month that it will build the first U.S.- flagged LNG Offshore Supply Vessels. Harvey Gulf Chairman & CEO Shane J. Guidry said that a contract would be awarded to a U.S. shipyard on or before August 28, 2011. The SV310DF vessels, designed by STX Marine Inc., will be dual-fuel with LNG capacity for seven days with three en- gines at full rpm. In addition, the vessels will carry 5520 tons of deadweight at load line and have a transit speed of 13 knots. Harvey Gulf will make the capital investment of $100m for two vessels. Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, FL has been busy building a new series of 300 x 64 ft. ?Green? OSVs for Harvey Gulf, significant in that they are the first being built to the ABS Class Notation GP (Green Passport). Eastern also earlier this year won contracts to build five platform supply vessels (PSVs) for export to Brazil, to provide service in new deepwater oil fields there, the direct result of a U.S. MarAd $241 million loan guarantee. On the West Coast U.S., San Diego-based NASSCO is tra-ditionally one of the stronger players in U.S. shipbuilding, a major builder for the U.S. Navy as well as commercial enti- ties. In fact, over the last four decades, NASSCO has delivered more than 100 ships to the world's fleets, 51 ships to com- mercial customers, and 63 auxiliary and support ships to theU.S. Navy. These have included oil tankers, ferries, contain- erships, and oceanographic research ships for commercialcustomers; and hospital ships, fast combat support ships, tank landing ships, and roll-on/roll-off ships for the Navy. NASSCO currently has contracts to build 14 T-AKE dry cargo/ammunition ships for the U.S. Navy and five U.S. Jones Act product tankers for American Petroleum Tankers. In May, the Navy tapped NASSCO again, awarding the shipyard a $744 million contract to build the first two in its class of Mo- bile Landing Platform (MLP) ships. The first of these ships is expected to be delivered in 2013. In the Pacific Northwest, VIGOR Industrial is solidifyingits position as a premier shipyard for both new construction and repair. With its recent acquisition of the former Todd Pa- cific Shipyards , VIGOR now owns and operates facilities in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton, Everett and Port An- geles. VIGOR is finishing outfitting the third of three 64-car ferries it built, under budget and ahead of schedule for Wash- ington State Ferries, the largest ferry operator in the U.S. VIGOR is the primary commercial maintenance force forthree of the U. S. Navy?s 11 active aircraft carriers, in Bre- merton and Everett, Wash. Major projects in Seattle include restoring a vital U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker to active serv- ice and performing structural and propulsion maintenance forthe skyline-dominating Sea-Based X-Band Radar floating 38Maritime Reporter & Engineering News FEATURE THE SHIPYARD EDITION U.S. Yards Seek, Create New Opportunities In the Pacific Northwest, VIGOR Industrial has solidifyied its position with its acquisition of the former Todd Pacific Shipyards. VIGOR owns and operates facilities in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton, Everett and Port Angeles. MR Aug. 11 # 5 (34-41):MR Template 8/8/2011 11:41 AM Page 38