Metal Trades, Inc. was contracted by Maybank Industries. LLC to build two new types of double hull barges for the U.S. Navy. Three “YON” fuel barges and one Ship Waste Offloading Barge (SWOB) will be built, each type with identical 6,900 barrel capacity cargo and double hull configurations. The ABS classed barges are being designed by Bristol Harbor Group of Bristol, RI to be 180 feet long and 44 feet wide. Production Engineering services are being performed by Bluewater Designs, Inc. of Delray Beach, FL. This is the second time that Metal Trades, Maybank Industries, and Bristol Harbor have teamed up to design and build a new type of double hull barge for the U.S. Navy that meets the latest operational requirements with full compliance with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Compared to the previous contract that built two 14,000 barrel fuel barges for the U.S. Navy, this contract addresses two new requirements – a more compact fuel barge design for space-constrained facilities and also a new type of double hull barge to offload and dispose of waste oil from naval vessels.
According to Shaun Flynn, Metal Trades’ President, “All of us that worked on the previous YON program are elated that the U.S. Navy has great confidence in our team’s ability to design and build a high quality end product that is helping to keep the waterways clean and safe.”