Steve Berthold News

As the novel coronavirus and its impacts continue to spread across America, U.S. shipbuilders, by and large, continue to build. While most yards have been deemed essential to marine transportation and/or national security and have been able to maintain operations, the situation at and around every shipyard is different, and there are several builders across the country that have had to temporarily suspend activity. In either scenario, it’s far from business as usual for America’s…

Eastern Shipbuilding’s forward-thinking inland towboat design now features CAT Tier 4 propulsion and aftertreatment. When Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) introduced its cutting edge 4,000 hp Thunderbolt inland towboat designed around twin azimuthing AAA Propulsion electric V-Pod propulsion and diesel-electric technology back in 2015, the approach was collaborative, with input from operators, naval architects (Gilbert Associates, Inc. (GAI)) and propulsion OEM’s. In selecting the podded propulsion system for inclusion on the design, Eastern met with two inland owner/operators that had Z-Drive towboats, and others that didn’t. Starting as far back as 2013, listening to each and noting their concerns, it was decided that the V-Pod was the best solution.

Eastern Shipbuilding offers the 4,200 hp Thunderbolt inland towboat designed around twin azimuthing Verhaar Omega electric V-Pod propulsion and diesel-electric technology. The ESG approach was collaborative, with input from operators, naval architects (Gilbert Associates, Inc. (GAI)) and propulsion OEM’s (Verhaar Omega: since 2012, 19 Omega V-pods have been installed and are in service in Europe on various types of vessels). Thunderbolt will be built to ABS rules, but will not be classed.

Eastern Shipbuilding eyes bigger prizes while maintaining both quality and an astounding pace of work at their Panhandle locations. For these reasons and more, Eastern is one to watch. A sweltering, early July visit by Maritime Reporter to Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s (ESG) two Gulf Coast fabrication yards brought much more than the sheer breadth of its business backlog into sharp focus. That’s not to say the robust list of ongoing and future work for Eastern isn’t impressive. It is. For those who have never visited the conveniently located Florida Panhandle shipbuilder, however, it is difficult to put into perspective just how much upside potential resides in the firm’s two Panama City-based yards.

The Alaska Marine Highway System has become very active building ferries for the State of Alaska. Much of the recent attention has gone to the pair of 235-ft. fast ferries Derecktor Shipyards has under construction at their new Bridgeport, Conn., shipyard that can carry 250 people and 35 autos at speeds in excess of 30 knots. But since February of this year, Conrad Shipyard LLC, Morgan City, La. has been building a 181- x 50-ft. auto/passenger ferry for use in the Southeastern part of the state. It will run from Ketchikan to the Island of Annette a private reservation for the Metlakatla Indian Community. There are approximately 2,100 people on the Island, located 18 miles southeast of Ketchikan.

The business of predicting the course of financial markets has led many companies - good and bad, large and small - to ruin. Perhaps, then, it is better to rely on tenets of nature, such as "Only the Strong Survive" when laying out business plans. Conrad Industries of Morgan City, La., has obviously ascribed to the latter, building a formidable fortress of a marine company with a wide geographic scope, including the recent news of its pending acquisition of Swiftships, an apparent $12.5 million deal which is still under negotiation. Visitors unfamiliar with Conrad Industries would be immediately struck by the modernity of its facilities in Morgan City, La. In continuous operation since 1948, Conrad Shipyard, based here, specializes in offshore and inland vessel and barge repair.