The State of Shipbuilding

The State of Shipbuilding

What a difference a year makes for the nation’s shipbuilders.  After a dismal 2020 that brought unprecedented challenges and a sharp slowdown in new projects, there are signs that the worst is finally over.  The economy is open and some level of normalcy has returned. And with that comes an uptick in new work — some of which was shelved…
Read More
2022 Ship of the Year: Fireboat 2

2022 Ship of the Year: Fireboat 2

Canaveral Fire Rescue’s Fireboat 2 can speed up to 35 knots and blast 10,000 gallons of water per minute. Its electronics package is second to none, and its four waterjets can make the vessel dance. Perhaps the most important feature, however, is a small monitor on the port shoulder. The remote-controlled system dispenses the chemical agent Purple-K to extinguish liquefied natural…
Read More
ATLANTIC ENDEAVOR

ATLANTIC ENDEAVOR

It’s been almost six years since Atlantic Wind Transfers introduced the first offshore wind crew transfer vessel (CTV) in the United States to service the Block Island Wind Farm. The company’s second CTV, Atlantic Endeavor, entered service in late 2020 with a contract to support the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project almost 28 miles off Virginia Beach, Va. Blount Boats built…
Read More
SSG MICHAEL H. OLLIS

SSG MICHAEL H. OLLIS

The Staten Island Ferry will soon debut a new class of passenger ferries that will run along the heavily traveled corridor between Manhattan and Staten Island.   SSG Michael H. Ollis is the lead vessel in the series of three ferries designed to carry 4,500 passengers. Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) in Florida built the vessels based on a design from…
Read More
SPINDLETOP

SPINDLETOP

One of the largest high-speed aluminum pilot boats in North America is now operating in Sabine Pass. The 90-by-23-foot Spindletop was delivered to the Sabine Pilots of Port Arthur, Texas, in March 2021. Breaux’s Bay Craft of Loreauville, La., built the vessel using an in-house design. It is named for an oil field discovered in 1901 near Beaumont, Texas, that ignited the…
Read More
M/V GEORGE III

M/V GEORGE III

Two of the cleanest-running containerships in the Hawaii trade lane will soon enter service for Pasha Hawaii. The company, based in Honolulu and San Raphael, Calif., developed its dual-fuel ‘Ohana class to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) from day one. M/V George III, the lead vessel, is scheduled for delivery later this year, followed by M/V Janet Marie in spring 2022. The…
Read More
STORM PETREL

STORM PETREL

A new fuel-efficient aluminum boat that’s built to handle heavy loads of scientific equipment is helping researchers understand the future of the world’s oceans. The 50-foot aluminum catamaran Storm Petrel is a platform for studying ocean acidification and other changes on the wild shores of Washington state, a place teeming with whales and other sea life.  Nic de Waal, managing director of…
Read More
FELLS POINT

FELLS POINT

The Association of Maryland Pilots developed a new pilot boat class specifically for work around Baltimore Harbor. The 48.5-foot aluminum Fells Point is the lead vessel in the pilots’ Baltimore class. Ray Hunt Design and Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding collaborated on the vessel, which replaces the nearly 40-year-old Vedette. Fells Point incorporates the best from the Maryland pilots’ larger Chesapeake-class launches. It is nimble, quick and…
Read More
MARINE 1

MARINE 1

Firefighter Casey Brennan steered Rochester (N.Y.) Fire Department’s newest asset north in the Genesee River. Whitecaps dotted the horizon as a 15-knot headwind pushed against the bow.  Conditions worsened after the vessel cleared the jetties and moved into the open waters of Lake Ontario.  “Hold on boys,” Brennan said. “We’re going to come up a bit.” With that, he pushed…
Read More