Shipbuilding News, February 2017

Metal Shark wins DC, New Orleans ferry contracts

Metal Shark has won contracts to build new commuter ferries for operators in New Orleans and Greater Washington, D.C. BMT Designers & Planners of Alexandria, Va., provided plans for the vessels.

The Jeanerette, La., company will build two high-speed, low-wake aluminum catamarans for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. The 105-foot vessels with the capacity for 149 passengers are set to replace ferries dating to 1977 and 1937. The new vessels will run from Canal Street in downtown New Orleans to Algiers Point and from Chalmette and Lower Algiers. Deliveries will begin next year.

The yard also will build four 88-foot, 149-passenger vessels for Entertainment Cruises’ subsidiary Potomac Riverboat Co. to serve Greater Washington D.C. The first delivery is set for later this year. The ferries will run between Old Town Alexandria, Va.; National Harbor, Md.; Georgetown and The Wharf in Washington, according to Metal Shark.

These ferry projects aren’t the only ones underway at Metal Shark’s new shipyard in Franklin, La. Since last summer, the company has been constructing high-speed catamaran ferries for Hornblower’s Citywide Ferry Service in New York City.

Horizon building five more NYC ferries

Horizon Shipbuilding, which shares the Citywide Ferry contract with Metal Shark, has an order to build five more of the Incat Crowther-designed vessels.

Hornblower has ordered 19 high-speed aluminum catamarans for the New York City commuter service. Metal Shark is building six boats, and with the new order Horizon will deliver 13 of the vessels. Two of the five boats in the new order will be finished this year, while the remaining three will be delivered next year.

Horizon currently has 10 ferries under construction, all of which are proceeding on schedule, according to company CEO Travis Short. The first delivery will occur this spring.

The 85-foot ferries will have Moteurs Baudouin engines, Vulkan couplings, ZF gears and Michigan Wheel props. They are projected to have a top speed of 25 knots.

The Citywide Ferry Service will launch in summer 2017 with routes connecting Manhattan with South Brooklyn, Rockaway, Queens and Astoria. Routes serving other parts of Manhattan and the Bronx are scheduled to start in 2018.

Michigan pilots receive new Gladding-Hearn vessel

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding of Somerset, Mass., has delivered a Chesapeake-class pilot boat to the Lakes Pilot Association, District 2, in Port Huron, Mich.

The aluminum Huron Spirit is 52.5 feet long and based on a C. Raymond Hunt deep-V hull design. The propulsion system consists of twin Cummins QSM11 diesel engines each producing 602 hp, Twin Disc MGX-5114A Quickshift gears and five-blade nibral propellers. The flush-mounted wheelhouse is outfitted with Llebroc seats and Heatercraft heaters.

Huron Spirit can reach a speed of 25 knots. At 20 knots, it can get at least 350 miles without refueling its 690-gallon tank, Gladding-Hearn said.

Boarding platforms are located on the port and starboard foredeck and roof, and there are steering and throttle controls at the transom. Huron Spirit also has a winch-operated rotating davit over a recessed platform for rescue operations.

Eastern delivers another McAllister z-drive tug

Over the past 16 years, Eastern Shipbuilding has churned out tugboat after tugboat for McAllister Towing of New York City. The pattern continued in January when the Panama City, Fla., yard delivered the 5,000-hp z-drive tractor tug Jeffrey McAllister.

The 96-foot tug has twin EMD 8-710G7C Tier 3 mains producing 2,500 hp each, Schottel z-drives and John Deere generators. JonRie Intertech supplied the Series 250 hydraulic hawser winch and Series 230 hydraulic towing winch.

Jeffrey McAllister is named for a fifth-generation employee with the company who began working as a deck hand at age 18. He later became tug captain and docking pilot. The new vessel, the 11th Eastern has built for McAllister since 2001, will work in Charleston, S.C.

Freezer processor factory trawler leaves Eastern

O’Hara Corp. has taken delivery of F/T Araho, a freezer processor factory trawler that will work in the demanding waters off Alaska. Araho is the first such U.S.-flagged vessel built in more than two decades.

Eastern Shipbuilding built the 194-foot ship, which has a 38,500-cubic-foot freezer hold, accommodations space for 54 people and an onboard hospital. Skipsteknisk of Norway designed the vessel.

Propulsion is provided by a single EMD 16-710G7 Tier 3 engine producing 4,000 hp. A Lufkin reduction gear drives the propulsion system and an ABB 1,700-kW shaft generator provides ship electrical power. Backup power comes from dual 550-kW John Deere C18 generators.

Araho also has a 95-kW John Deere emergency generator and Rapp Marine winches.

Eastern, which has built six fishing vessels for O’Hara over the past 20 years, said Araho is the most sophisticated one it has delivered for the firm based in Rockland, Maine.

Bollinger Shipyards delivers 80-foot towboat

Lorris G. Towing of Cut Off, La., has taken delivery of a new towboat built by Bollinger Shipyards.

The triple-screw M/V Cole Guidry is powered by three Caterpillar C18 Tier 3 engines each producing 670 hp linked to Twin Disc reduction gears. Three 65-kW Kohler generators provide ship service power. There are four staterooms for seven crewmembers. The vessel is 80 feet by 36 feet with a 10-foot draft.

"This vessel exceeds our expectations,” said Luke Guidry, owner of Lorris G. Towing, in a prepared statement. “Bollinger’s technology and craftsmanship are evident in the design and construction of this vessel. We can expand on this design to meet our future needs and the needs of our customers.”

NASSCO starts work on fifth Navy ESB

General Dynamics NASSCO has started work on a fifth ship in the U.S. Navy’s expeditionary transfer dock/expeditionary sea base (ESD/ESB) program.

The Navy awarded the contract for the ship, ESB 5, in December. It will have a 52,000-square-foot flight deck, room for fuel and equipment storage, repair facilities and accommodations for up to 250 people. “Serving as a ‘pier at sea,’ the 784-foot-long ship is also designed to support MH-53 and MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft,” General Dynamics said in a prepared statement.

ESB ships are designed with four capabilities in mind, according to the Navy: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support and command and control assets.

NASSCO’s San Diego shipyard is building USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams (T-ESB 4). It also built USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3), USNS Montford Point (T-ESD 1) and USNS John Glenn (T-ESD 2).  

By Professional Mariner Staff