Us General Services Administration News

However readers might define “normal”, 2020 was anything but. But the business of rigid inflatable boats (RIB) has been going at full throttle.Matthew Velluto, Director of Business Development and Marketing at RIBCRAFT USA, based in Marblehead, Mass., described a business moving steadily ahead, though it’s had to weave and bob at times during 2020. “We’ve been able to stay open throughout 2020, with no disruptions on our side,” though he acknowledged hiccups further down in the company’s supply chain. He explains that the business was deemed to be “essential”.

Art Anderson Associates, a Bremerton-based multidisciplinary engineering services firm, was recently awarded a contract for On-Call Naval Architect Design Services with the Navigation Division of the Port of Portland. The Navigation Division owns and operates a fleet of vessels and barges, including the Dredge Oregon, and has retained the firm to provide naval architecture and marine engineering services in support of fleet maintenance and operations. While the firm has maintained a presence in the Portland area for many years, providing facilities construction management services on behalf of the U.S. General Services Administration, it is only recently that it has focused on doing more naval architecture and marine work in the region.

The Savannah-Chatham Police Marine Patrol has taken delivery of a 27-ft. Workskiff Harbor Security boat. The boat, obtained through a federal grant from the Transportation Security Administration, will be used to patrol the abundance of waterways throughout Chatham County, including security duty along the Savannah River waterfront. The Marine Patrol regularly patrols the local waterways, working with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the United States Coast Guard, providing harbor enforcement and providing an extra layer of security for Savannah's busy port. Accordingly, the Marine Patrol investigates waterway and marine-related accidents and/or crimes. The unit also enforces all the safe-boating laws of the State of Georgia.

A former U.S. Coast Guard cutter whose heroic rescues garnered notice in the movie, The Perfect Storm, made its debut on the U.S. General Services Administration auction Web site, GSA Auctions(TM), http://www.gsaauctions.gov, last week, after spending more than six months without a permanent home. Reported to the U.S. General Services Administration as excess by the U.S. Coast Guard in January 1994, the decommissioned Tamaroa was initially housed at New York's Intrepid Sea Air Museum until 1997. It was later housed at the Hudson River Park Conservancy until 2000. The Tamaroa is now at New York City Harbor in New York. The Tamaroa was originally the U.S. Navy commissioned vessel USS Zuni, a 205-ft. salvage tug.

The auction of a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter closed recently with a winning bid of more than $60,000 placed through GSA Auctions, the U.S. General Services Administration’s auction Web site. Tamaroa made its debut on the site on March 14. Bidding began immediately and eventually included as many as 12 interested parties. After more than two weeks, the auction closed on March 29 with a high bid of $60,075 placed by Maritime Equipment & Sales, Inc., an Alabama-based company. GSA completed the sale of Tamaroa on April 3, 2001. Originally the USS Zuni, a naval salvage tug during World War II, Tamaroa was later commissioned into the Coast Guard where it served for more than 50 years in search and rescue and law enforcement missions.