Boatyard News

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Wednesday announced $20.8 million in grant awards to 27 small shipyards in 20 states through the Small Shipyard Grant Program. The funds will help shipyards modernize, increase productivity, and expand local job opportunities while competing in the global marketplace.“Small shipyards strengthen America’s commercial fleet, bolster our economic security, and generate good jobs,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We are proud to support these shipyards reinforce their vital role in the U.S.

A ferry serving Lake Victoria in East Africa has been fitted with new Schottel propulsion systems.With an area of nearly 69,000 square meters, Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa—and a vital resource for around 30 million people who live on its shores. It is not only a source of water and fish but also provides them with transport routes. Every day, almost 40 ferries travel across the lake between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. One of these ferries is the 1985-built Sengerema…

AMS Global helped out in a most unusual project for the marine consulting and safety firm, helping to return The Floating Head back to the water,  33 years after it was first created.The Floating Head, a sculpture created by artist Richard Groom, was the centrepiece for Glasgow’s 1988 Garden Festival. It has been carefully restored over the past six months, and is now on public display at Canting Basin at Govan Docks, adjacent to Glasgow Science Centre, for the next four weeks.Inspired by the carvings on Easter Island…

A new tourist ferry serving the Amalfi coastline is equipped with a Volvo Penta quad IPS installation with IMO III compliant after-treatment package, offering not only excellent maneuverability, fuel economy and emissions benefits.The 36-meter ferry Vega can transport up to 540 passengers each sailing on visits to the towns of Salerno, Maiori, Positano, Amalfi and the islands south of Naples. The vessel is the first vessel in the region to combine Volvo Penta IPS with the company’s latest SCR aftertreatment system that complies with the new IMO III emissions regulations.The ferry…

Small shipyards in the U.S. are critical to the nation’s maritime operations and economic security. Typically family-owned and employing less than 1,200 workers, America’s small shipyards support more than 400,000 jobs, employ more than 100,000 Americans directly and contribute tens of billions in gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).In an effort to help support these vital assets, MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program provides funds to help drive efficiency…

Marine News recently visited the Blount Boats facility in Warren, Rhode Island. While the year 2019 might be the ‘year of the woman’ in the eyes of the International Maritime Organization, the two women at the head of Blount Boats – Marcia & Julie Blount– have been a driving force in the U.S. boatbuilding market for decades. As Blount’s celebrates its 70th anniversary, read about the storied yard’s promising future.Founded in 1949, Blount Boats is a full-service shipyard with a customer base comprised of a variety of commercial and government entities including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S.

With 50 years of history, the Azimut | Benetti Group is recognized as the world’s largest motor yacht builder (global orderbook 2019). For nearly 10 years Azimut has been producing a wide range of luxury motor yachts in Brazil. Maritime Reporter´s correspondent in Brazil interviewed Italian executive Davide Breviglieri, CEO of Azimut Yachts do Brasil.Founded in 1969 by Paolo Vitelli, still the main shareholder, the group is present in 70 countries and has a network of 138 sales and service offices, bringing together the successful brands Azimut Yachts and Benetti, each serving different market segments. “The Group offers a huge range of motor yachts, with over 45 models in production, from 34 feet to 100 meter super yachts.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced $19.6 million in grants to support capital improvements at 28 U.S. small shipyards as a part of its Small Shipyard Grant program. The grants enable small shipyards to modernize equipment and processes to fuel future growth. “These grants help create jobs in America’s small shipyards, which play a significant role in our country’s maritime sector,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.In 2013, U.S. shipbuilders produced $37.3 billion in gross domestic product.

South African Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) builder Gemini Marine has announced Berthon as its sole UK & Ireland dealer for its range of military, rescue, commercial and leisure RIBs.Gemini Marine designs and manufactures comprehensive range of cabin and open RIBs for many of the world’s military, rescue and commercial operators, as well as supplying RIBs into the leisure, expedition and adventure sectors. "As one of the UK’s established marine sales and service brands, Berthon will give Gemini customers the highest quality product and the most reliable after-sales care and in-service support. From its Lymington base, Berthon will be promoting sales of Gemini RIBS throughout the UK and Ireland into all market sectors…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached an agreement with Hawaiian repair yard Keehi Marine, Inc. to reduce pollution in its stormwater discharges to Keehi Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean.Acting on a tip it received from the public, EPA performed an inspection in April 2017 at the Honolulu boatyard and found accumulation of fine sediment and debris without controls that prevent stormwater and associated debris from entering stormwater discharges and flowing into Keehi Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered that recent flooding at a covered work area indicating pollutants had washed offsite. From September 2016 to December 2017…

The Duclos family is iconic in boatbuilding circles, as the Somerset, Mass.-based Gladding-Hearn, Duclos Corporation, has built a strong heritage in the pilot boat and fast ferry sectors, and in total more than 425 vessels have been delivered since it was founded in 1955. Today a trio of second-generation siblings run the yard, brothers and co-presidents John and Peter Duclos with sister Carol Hegarty serving as CFO. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News visited the yard recently…

Record hauls of wild fish, an unprecedented return on farmed salmon, finance and subsidy garner new orders, new designs and emboldened suppliers. In Scandinavia, particularly Norway, rich, carefully managed fisheries raise just one question for the commercially minded — which wave of business to ride. A growing number of large and small players are in on the action, as historic profits are heralded up and down the supply chain. For the hardened makers of gear that know tougher times, this is the golden age.

California Commercial Marine Operators Take Advantage of Grant Money to Repower with Eco-Friendly Engines. Capt. Joe Nazar recently repowered his whale watching excursion vessel in San Francisco with twin Volvo Penta Tier 3 diesels, and he couldn’t be happier with the results. Since the new engines were installed, he is seeing dramatic improvements in fuel efficiency, lower emissions, reduced noise levels and better performance. He has another good reason to be happy. A large percentage of the cost of repowering the boat came from a State of California grant. Nazar’s 64-ft. catamaran, Kitty Kat, was retrofitted with a pair of Volvo Penta D11 625 hp Tier 3 engines in April, replacing the previous 12-liter Tier 2 engines.

Last December, MAN Engines introduced its latest generation in-line six-cylinder engines for workboats. Now the first MAN D2676 LE443 engine off the production line will be installed aboard the new salmon fishing boat, LT32 Gilnetter, built by the Mavrik Marine boatyard in Washington State and set to launch in late autumn 2016. The D2676 LE443 is designed for light duty commercial operation and generates an output of 537 kW (730 HP) at 2,300 rpm with a cylinder capacity of 12.4 l. The maximum torque is 2,445 Nm at speeds of 1,300 to 2,100 rpm.

The world's largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas – which cost US$1 billion to build over 32 months – has been finished and was delivered to owner Royal Caribbean International. The immense floating town has 18 decks and will be able to carry 6,360 passengers and 2,100 crew members. At 66 metres (217 feet), it is the widest cruise ship ever built, while its 362-metre length makes it 50 metres longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower. Barcelona will be Harmony's home port for the next few months – it has 34 seven-night voyages scheduled, first sailing June 7 – before relocating to Port Everglades, Florida, for the winter Caribbean cruising season. The ship was built for the US-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) by the STX France boatyard in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast.

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group today announced the acquisition of Lauderdale Marine Center (LMC), the nation's largest yacht repair facility in terms of the number of large vessels it can haul and service. Equity for the transaction comes from Carlyle Realty Partners VII, a U.S. real estate investment fund. "In partnership with the outstanding management team and staff at LMC, we will build upon LMC's success through growth and continued innovation and superb customer service," said Thad Paul, Managing Director at The Carlyle Group. Located in Fort Lauderdale on the New River, visible from I-95 and close to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, LMC is a 50-acre facility consisting of a boatyard, marina and marine service center.

Ancora Marina in Neustadt, Germany, took delivery of a new Marine Travelift 75 BFMII mobile boat hoist, Marine Travelift Inc. announced today. Ancora Marina is located on the Bay of Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein, northeast of Hamburg and southeast of Kiel. The new 75 BFMII is the marina’s fourth mobile boat hoist from Marine Travelift, and it replaces a 1988 Marine Travelift 70 BFM and a 1992 70 BFM. According to Michael Wippern from Dr. Ing. Bender & Wippern GmbH, Marine Travelift’s local dealer…

The new JH-CR series engines from Yanmar bring the benefits of common-rail fuel injection technology to units of below 110mhp. Boat owners can now choose digitally-controlled common-rail engines from the Yanmar range with power outputs starting as low as 45mhp.The company will launch the new engines at Boot Düsseldorf 2015, with immediate availability through its worldwide distributor network. "Ever since the early 2000s, diesel engine manufacturers have been using common-rail fuel injection to meet ever-tighter emissions regulations…

Mustang Marine, which is under a new ownership and management structure after being bought out of administration in May 2014 by a group of nine investors, has completed a broad range of orders in what was a successful second half of 2014, the company reports. Now, the Pembroke Dock-based firm says it is actively recruiting skilled workers and apprentices to meet a busy work schedule going into the New Year. Mustang Marine has created 12 new jobs over the last six months, bringing the total workforce to 42 people.

With just one month to go to the start of the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, GAC Pindar is in the thick of ensuring the provision of a seamless logistics support package for the 12th edition of the race that has been nicknamed the 'Everest of Sailing'. As the official logistics provider for the Volvo Ocean Race, the mammoth task that faces GAC Pindar includes logistics and customs clearance of entire race villages and gear for the crews, in addition to emergency supply of spare parts during the race. Due to the sheer size of the race - 38,739 nautical miles across five continents and eleven ports including a pit-stop in The Hague in just nine months - two identical race villages are required and will leapfrog each other across the globe.

CWind, a provider of integrated services to the offshore wind industry, has launched its new vessel CWind Fulmar in a naming ceremony in Brightlingsea. The CWind Fulmar, built by CTruk Ltd. at its Brightlingsea boatyard, is due to join three other CWind vessels on a three-year O&M contract at West of Duddon Sands. The vessel, the third SWATH 20 built by CTruk, boasts mixed-flow stainless-steel Rolls-Royce waterjets for a targeted 25% increased bollard pull. Coupled with the RR…

Many variables drive the design decisions for High Speed Craft and RHIBS. Commercial off the Shelf Solutions often tie all of these together. The world is changing fast and nowhere is this truer than in the fast boat sector. When selecting a new boat, the questions used to be relatively simple: how long, how many engines, what fuel type and how fast? Military and professional maritime organizations have been driving the evolution of extreme fast craft for over 30 years. Naval architects…

Whitehaven Marina Ltd. welcomed UK Docks Marine Services on-site as a new service provider as the marine engineering firm expand their existing Tyneside, South Shields and Gosport, Hampshire operations. UK Docks have widened operations to the West Coast in order to service current contracts as well as develop operations within the growing wind farm industry. UK Docks will be operating from one of three bays in the purpose built, state of the art boat shed completed in 2008. In addition to the standard expected facilities…