Vince Piscitello News

Vigor Industrial has emerged as a leading consolidator of shipbuilding prowess on the U.S. West Coast, and the company continues to invest in new capability and infrastructure. “Over the past year there has been a marked increase in vessel fabrication opportunities of all kinds, including for ferries, tugs, barges, and fishing vessels,” said Vince Piscitello, VP of Sales, Marketing and Business Development. Earlier this year Vigor signed an agreement to build the largest floating drydock in the United States, and construction is currently underway.

“There is a resurgence of the marine industry in the Pacific Northwest we haven’t seen for 20 to 30 years now,” said Vince Piscitello, Vice President of Business Development for Vigor Industrial LLC. “The oil and gas industry is really new to our area,” he said, although he expects to see it grow significantly with Shell’s exploration of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska’s northern coast. State run ferry operations in Washington and Alaska are at a point where they must renew fleets built in the 50s and 60s.

While much attention justifiably has been paid to the expansion of offshore energy operations in the Arctic, according to a Reuters report one of the pioneers, Shell, has hit a few snags in its long-anticipated exploration drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. According to the news agency, heavier than expected ice in Arctic waters off Alaska will likely delay until August it exploration drilling, and according to a report in the July 11 edition of the Wall Street Journal the company is facing delays to get final approval from the U.S.

Bryan Nichols, one of the leading maritime business development professionals in the Pacific Northwest, is joining forces with VIGOR Industrial, which owns and operates the premier shipyards in the region. Nichols joins VIGOR as a sales representative for the company, which builds, repairs and modernizes commercial fishing and cargo vessels, ferries and military ships at six locations in the Northwest. Nichols had been sales and marketing manager at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island, Wash. “Joining VIGOR is an exciting next step for me,” Nichols said.