Nichols Brothers Boat Builders News

Everett Ship Repair, LLC (ESR), a provider of ship repair and conversion services in the Pacific Northwest, announced the acquisition of the floating dry-dock Hercules. The dry-dock was towed from San Diego by Baydelta using Delta Deanna, their tug built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders. Hercules is now the largest dry-dock in Puget Sound and represents a milestone in ESR’s commitment to expanding regional ship repair capacity for commercial and government operators across the West Coast.The Hercules expands ESR’s capabilities…

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has announced that the Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded $8.75 million in grants to revitalize U.S. shipyards and advance America’s maritime dominance.The funding is part of the Small Shipyard Grant program, which supports advanced training, workforce development and new technologies that strengthen U.S. shipbuilding and repair capabilities. Duffy said the program will help America counter Chinese competition and maintain freedom…

Digital shipbuilder Incat Crowther and US shipbuilder Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) have been selected by San Francisco’s Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) to design and deliver two new electric ferries for San Francisco Bay Ferry.The commission adds to Incat Crowther’s growing portfolio of bespoke, low and zero-emission ferry designs for public transport operators around the world.The new ferries will be capable of transporting 400 passengers and 60 bicycles…

Ice Floe, LLC, doing business as Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB), has been awarded a contract by San Francisco Bay Ferry to design and construct two 400-passenger battery-electric ferries as part of the agency’s Rapid Electric Emission Free (REEF) Ferry Program.The 142’-1” x 34’-9” Subchapter K vessels will operate at 25 knots, serving central bay routes that seamlessly connect Oakland and Alameda to San Francisco.They will significantly reduce emissions in the San Francisco Bay Area.NBBB will be collaborating with vessel designer Incat Crowther…

Lane Richards has worked in the maritime industry for 22 years. He began his career in the trades prior to a successful transition to project management and various sales management roles.After a short but successful stint at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Richards transitioned to head up the commercial sales effort at Puglia Engineering’s Fairhaven Shipyard prior to returning to Nichols Brothers in 2019. There he began work with their team in planning and subsequently standing up a dedicated repair yard on the Everett waterfront.

Three shipyards have expressed interest in building a long-awaited series of new hybrid-electric car and passenger vessels for Washington State Ferries (WSF).Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland, Wash.; Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Fla. and Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia have sent pre-qualification packages after WSF earlier this year invited shipbuilders to bid, Washington State Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Steve Nevey, the head of WSF…

Shared Ice Services LLC, responsible for the professional services of both Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) and Everett Ship Repair (ESR), announced the appointment of Bart Goedhard as the new Director of Sales and Marketing.Goedhard brings more than 30 years of extensive experience in the international maritime and transportation industry, having held leadership positions across a diverse range of sectors, including -marine and energy solutions, shipbuilding and repair firms…

Kitsap Transit, a public transit operator serving Kitsap County, Wash., announced it will receive $13.5 million in federal funding toward the purchase of a new fast ferry that would replace one of its oldest vessels on its Kingston/Seattle route.The funding comes from the Federal Transit Administration’s Passenger Ferry Grant program and covers nearly 80% of the project’s $17.5 million cost. Kitsap Transit said it will contribute about $4 million in local dollars to the project.“This…

Freeland, Wash. shipbuilder Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) announced it has appointed Lacey Greene as Vice President, New Construction Sales, effective from mid-July 2024.A second-generation shipbuilder, following in the footsteps of her father who worked at NBBB for many years, Greene started her career 20 years ago on the NBBB labor crew during the build of the SEAFIGHTER, also known as the X-CRAFT, and the paddle-wheel cruise boat EMPRESS OF THE NORTH, now the AMERICAN EMPRESS.

Deliveries will begin in 2028 if all goes well. Delays and escalating costs have bedeviled the procurement process up until now.Washington State Ferries on Thursday published an invitation to bid on building five new hybrid-electric ferries, an overdue achievement that promises to eventually bring more reliability to cross-Sound ferry service.It’s the first time in more than 50 years that the state will accept bids from shipyards nationwide to construct its vessels. Going out to bid on this contract also represents a major step toward electrification of the WSF fleet.

DARPA’s NOMARS program aims to revolutionize naval operations by designing a ship that can operate autonomously for extended periods at sea without an onboard crew.One project at the forefront of maritime innovation is the development of a vessel called “Defiant,” a project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Defiant is referred to as a NOMARS vessel – “No Manning Required Ship.”The project’s been underway at least since January 2020, when DARPA held a “proposers day…

Freeland, Wash. shipbuilder Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) announced it has been awarded a contract to construct an uncrewed autonomous vessel for the U.S. Department of Defense's research and development agency.The No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) project was awarded by Serco North America, the prime contractor and designer of the vessel, for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).The program aims to revolutionize naval operations by designing a ship that…

A Washington State Ferries (WSF) vessel has been repaired after it allided into the Fauntleroy dock in Seattle last summer.Everett, Wash. repair yard Everett Ship Repair (ESR) served as the prime contractor for emergency repairs to WSF's Cathlamet, and it subcontracted sister-company Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) to construct a new steel pickle fork at its facility on Whidbey Island. A pickle fork is the area of a passenger deck extending above the end of the car decks…

Peter Roney has been hired to join the executive management team supporting U.S. West Coast shipyards Nichols Brothers Boat Builders and Everett Ship Repair.The news was announced by Shared Ice Services (SIS) is a subsidiary of Ice Cap Holding, the parent company of Ice Floe, dba Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) and Everett Ship Repair (ESR). SIS was recently established to support the operations of the two shipyards.NBBB is a newbuild and repair yard in Freeland, Wash., and ESR is a service and repair facility in Everett…

The U.S. Department of Defense's research and development agency is moving into the second phase of a project to to build and demonstrate a new seagoing unmanned surface vessel.The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on Monday announced  it is moving into Phase 2 of the No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, which seeks to build and demonstrate a revolutionary new medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) that can go to sea and perform missions with unprecedented reliability and availability, while carrying a significant payload.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced $19.6 million in grant awards to 24 small shipyards in 19 states through the Small Shipyard Grant Program.The funds will help awardees—many of which being family-run businesses—modernize, increase productivity and expand local employment opportunities while competing in the global marketplace, MARAD said.“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy, and small shipyards play a critical role in America’s maritime industry, helping us get the goods we depend on every day,” said U.S.

On Wednesday, May 4, 2022, Everett Ship Repair, LLC (ESR) hosted a naming ceremony and grand opening for their newest drydock, the Emerald Lifter. The Emerald Lifter, formally the Zidell 220, was relocated to ESR’s facility at the Port of Everett last month. ESR performed maintenance and preservation before it was put into operation on May 3, with it’s first drydocking.The Emerald Lifter has a lifting capacity of 2,000 tons and a working deck of 220’ x 62’. It will be in use along with ESR’s existing dry dock the Faithful Servant…

Everett, Wash. repair yard Everett Ship Repair announced it is expanding through the addition of a crane barge and second dry dock.ESR said it recently purchased the dry dock Zidell 220 to be relocated to its facility at the Port of Everett for operation by early spring 2022. The dry dock, with lifting capacity of 2,000 tons and working deck area of 220 feet by 62 feet, will be renamed Emerald Lifter in tribute to Puget Sound, which is also known as the Emerald Sea.ESR said it will also bring in a 150-ton Link Belt LS518 lattice boom crawler crane with 150 ft.

Sea Change - America’s first hydrogen powered ferrySWITCH Maritime’s new 70-foot passenger ferry Sea Change is navigating uncharted waters as the United States’ first zero-emissions, hydrogen fuel cell-powered, electric-drive ferry.The pioneering aluminum newbuild, constructed by Bellingham, Wash. shipbuilder All American Marine, Inc. (AAM), has been completed and was launched this summer, though permitting of hydrogen fuel systems for maritime vessels is still being worked out with the U.S. Coast Guard.“Legislation and laws for passenger safety did not exist yet for this type of vessel.

Shipbuilder Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) said it has delivered the second of two 255-passenger-only ferries to Kitsap Transit of Bremerton, Wash. Like the first-in-class-vessel the Enetai, the Commander outperformed design expectations during vessel trials, delivering to Kitsap Transit a lighter, faster, and smoother riding vessel, the builder said. Kitsap Transit awarded a design and construction contract to Nichols Brothers Boat Builders for two new ferries in December 2018.

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) said it has delivered the final vessel in a series of four new tugs for Foss Maritime.The ASD-90 tractor tugs Jamie Ann, Sarah Avrick, Leisa Florence and Rachael Allen were completed and delivered between April 2020 and June 2021. Foss, a division of the Saltchuk company, will station two of the vessels in Los Angeles/Long Beach, while the other two vessels will be in the San Francisco Bay providing escort and assist services to large tankers and containerships calling on the California ports.The series' fourth vessel…

Foss Maritime’s newest vessel will be the first U.S.-flag harbor tug to integrate autonomous systems in real-world commercial operations.Launched on April 29 and scheduled for delivery in May 2021, the newly built 90-ton bollard pull Rachael Allen—the fourth in a series of ASD-90 Z-drive tractor tugs being built at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, in Freeland, Wash.—will feature Sea Machines Robotics’ SM300 autonomous-command and -control system. The system's capabilities include transit autonomy…

A new BMT design 140-ft. catamaran passenger ferry has  reportedly passed its sea trial and is due to enter the Kitsap Transit fleet in the next few weeks. Dubbed Enetai, the boat was built by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) in Seattle, with a sister vessel, Commander,  due to be launched later in 2021.The ferry is designed to carry 255 passengers on a single deck, with space for up to 26 bicycles. Designed with combined bow and side loaders to enable operations at multiple terminals…