The Catalina Express News

Anything but business as usual, trusted partners operate innovative, environmentally correct and cutting edge equipment – in a decidedly niche trade. A  new freight service began operation in southern California this past April. For the businesses and residents of Catalina Island who depend on freight from the mainland, this new service aims to provide the safest, fastest, quietest, most efficient, eco-friendly and state-of-the-art freight transportation in the island’s history. Customers will also benefit from the use of unique and innovative tonnage built specifically for this niche trade.

Avalon Freight Services co-founded by Greg and Tim Bombard and Harley Franco, will debut freight service on Friday, April 1, 2016. Currently scheduled to operate a minimum of five days a week, year round, the company will transport freight from Berth 95 in San Pedro and the Pebbly Beach freight facility in Avalon. In addition to scouring the country seeking the best Landing Craft and Tug and Barge systems, the new company will provide the safest, fastest, quietest, most efficient…

The only ferry service serving Santa Catalina Island from mainland USA ports shifts its San Pedro, California facility. Cataline Express is moving to a new San Pedro passenger terminal close to the old one and it will be open for service in time for the summer season. The multi-million dollar project in cooperation with the Port of Los Angeles includes an upgrade of the adjacent passenger parking. The terminal will retain its address of Berth 95, known as the Catalina Sea and Air Terminal. Service by boat to Catalina originated from the Wilmington/San Pedro area in the 1800s. The current Berth 95 was built in 1966 and was originally the port for the Catalina Steamer.

Kvichak Marine Industries (KMI) is proud to announce the delivery of AquaLink II to Long Beach Transit (LBT) in Long Beach, CA. Designed by Incat Crowther of Australia, this is the second vessel built by Kvichak for Long Beach Transit. Both vessels are operated by Catalina Express shuttling visitors and commuters between the Long Beach downtown/waterfront area to Alamitos Bay Landing. AquaLink has been in operation by LBT since 2001. AquaLink II, an all-aluminum 65’ x 24' fully-enclosed catamaran is powered by twin Cummins QSM 11 diesel engines…

Vallejo Baylink, the San Francisco Bay community’s municipal commuter operation that was initiated five years ago, is now carrying some 800, passengers a year. With thousands of miles on the operation’s first catamaran ferry, originally known as the “Jet Cat Express,” an InCat vessel built by Gladding Hearn Shipbuilding, Vallejo Baylink management decided to send the well-used boat to Nichols Brothers Boat Builders’ Washington yard for a complete rebuild. In December, after nine months in Nichols Brothers’ Whidbey Island yard, the thoroughly renovated and enlarged vessel headed back home with a new name: M/V Vallejo. Marty Robbins, general manager of Vallejo Baylink…

Nichols Brothers Boatbuilders are building a highspeed catamaran ferry for San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation district. Designed by International Catamaran Designs (INCAT) of Sydney Australia, this will be Nichols Brothers 27th U.S. built highspeed catamaran. The vessel will be 139 ft. overall with a 34-ft. beam and draft of 9 ft. The individual hulls will have a beam of 9 ft.. A 37-knot speed is predicted with four 16-cylinder Cummins KTA50-M2 main engines delivering 1,600 hp each at 1800 rpm. Each IMO emission certified engine will drive a Hamilton model 571 water jet through a ZF Marine BU 460D marine gear. Electrical service will be provided by a 125 kW generator set powered by a Cummins Marine 6CT8.3DM engine.

The Port of Los Angeles is making $6m available for projects that reduce air pollution generated by Port operations. The funding is a component of the 2006-2007 Port Air Quality Mitigation Incentive Program. An applicant workshop and vendor fair will be held on August 29 at 10 a.m. Deadline for submissions is October 24, 2006. The Port Air Quality Mitigation Incentive Program provides financial incentives for programs that will reduce air emissions that affect neighboring communities of Wilmington and San Pedro, as well as the surrounding areas. Proposals will be reviewed by Port staff and members of the Port Community Advisory Committee, judged on effectiveness and emissions reductions, and ultimately approved and awarded funding by the Los Angeles Harbor Commission.

The transit between Long Beach and Catalina Island will be reduced to "well under" one hour when the "Jet Cat Express" joins the Catalina Express fleet. "This will take place before Memorial Day," according to Greg Bombard, president of the California company. The 381-passenger, 145-foot, 39-knot catamaran ferry was delivered to Catalina Express in ceremonies on Whidbey Island, Washington, on April 28. The vessel, designed by International Catamarans Designs, Ltd., (Incat) Australia, was the 26th passenger catamaran built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Inc., for U.S. service since the program began in 1983. Meanwhile, Nichols Brothers is building two other Incat catamarans for the San Francisco bay area.

Gary Frommelt, Hornblower Marine Services, Elizabeth, Ind., was elected 2003 PVA President on February 18 during the PVA Annual Convention at MariTrends 2003 held in Long Beach, CA. Other officers elected were PVA Vice President, David B. Clark, Golden Gate Ferry , Larkspur, CA, and PVA Secretary-Treasurer, Cornel Martin, Delta Queen Steamboat Company, New Orleans, LA. Frommelt serves as project manager for Hornblower Marine Services as director of marine operations for Caesars Indiana-home to the largest riverboat casino in the world. Frommelt was most recently PVA Vice President, has served on the PVA Board of Directors since 1996, and has been a long-term member of the Safety Committee.