The State of Shipbuilding: Smaller shipyards innovate in good times and bad

The State of Shipbuilding: Smaller shipyards innovate in good times and bad

Like so many businesses around the globe, the U.S. shipbuilding industry has seen its fair share of lingering economic impacts from the COVID pandemic.  Despite workforce, supply chain issues, inflation, and intense competition, shipyards around the country are continuing to develop and apply the latest propulsion, and equipment technologies to innovate the next generation of vessels for their customers.  Pivoting…
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YEAR AT A GLANCE: 2023

August 2023 American Eagle, American Cruise Lines’ first Coastal Cat, passed its sea trials. ACL accepted delivery of the 100-passenger vessel from Chesapeake Shipbuilding on time as scheduled. Moose Boats was awarded a contract from Santa Barbara Harbor Patrol for the construction of a M2–35 catamaran rescue/patrol boat. July 2023 The Panama Canal Authority notified its customers that it will…
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Janet Marie: The second of Pasha Hawaii’s  LNG-fueled containerships

Janet Marie: The second of Pasha Hawaii’s LNG-fueled containerships

These days, the delivery of any new U.S.-flagged cargo ship is cause for celebration. Pasha Hawaii has had two such occasions in less than two years. The most recent happened in late July with the arrival of the 774-by-115-foot Janet Marie. It is the second ‘Ohana-class container ship and a sister ship to George III, which entered service last year.…
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GOLDEN GATE: A future-proof pilot boat for S.F. Bay

GOLDEN GATE: A future-proof pilot boat for S.F. Bay

The San Francisco Bar Pilots have set a new standard for American pilot boats with the arrival of the 67-foot Golden Gate.  The San Francisco Bar Pilots has a rich history and is one of the few pilot groups left in the U.S. that operates offshore station boats 24 hours a day with its 104-foot vessels loitering 12 miles outside…
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Fire Island Maid: Specially built to haul heavy loads

Fire Island Maid: Specially built to haul heavy loads

Designed by the Elliott Bay Design Group of Seattle, the heavy-duty ferry Fire Island Maid was constructed at Metal Shark’s facility in Bayou La Batre, Al. and is the newest addition to the Fire Island Ferries fleet. Operated by the Sayville Ferry Service, a subsidiary of Fire Island Ferries, the new craft provides passenger and freight shipping services from Long…
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AMERICAN SYMPHONY/AMERICAN SERENADE: Twins in their element

AMERICAN SYMPHONY/AMERICAN SERENADE: Twins in their element

In days past, the very word ‘riverboat’ would evoke visions of elegantly named sternwheelers, wreathed in steam and smoke and laden with cargo and passengers, huffing their up and down the meandering Mississippi, piloted by the likes of Mark Twain and others who knew every bend, twist, shoal, and snag in the river like the back of his hand. Those…
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MV Dorothy Day: The latest of three new  Staten Island ferries

MV Dorothy Day: The latest of three new Staten Island ferries

On May 1, 2023, the New York City Dept. of Transportation introduced the 4,500-passenger 320’ MV Dorothy Day to its iconic free Staten Island-Manhattan ferry service marked the successful end to a long and unexpectedly challenging journey.   It all began in 2009 with preliminary design studies that culminated five years later with the selection of the Seattle-based Elliot Bay…
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R. B. Weeks: Delivered on time and on target

R. B. Weeks: Delivered on time and on target

Designed by Royal IHC and built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. of Panama City, Fla., the trailing suction hopper dredge (TSHD) R. B. Weeks successfully passed her sea trials and was delivered last May to her owners, Weeks Marine. Named for Richard B. Weeks, a co-founder of Weeks Marine, a family-owned company founded in 1919, the new dredge is virtually…
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VIKING MISSISSIPPI: A first on the Father of Waters

VIKING MISSISSIPPI: A first on the Father of Waters

In 2017, Viking Cruises Ltd. established a North American footprint with the launch of its cruises from its homeport of New Orleans up the Lower and Upper Mississippi River to ports of call in seven states from Louisiana to Minnesota.  The latest addition to the company’s fleet is the 450-foot Viking Mississippi, heralded as the largest and the first truly…
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