Marine Hwy Fleet Builder Seeks Shipyard Site

Santa Maria Shipowning & Trading, based in Santa Rosa, California, is looking to purchase or lease a 15 or more acre industrial site with 600 feet of waterfront property and a minimum shoreline depth of 15 feet. The site will be used to build and launch a fleet of fuel-efficient, ocean-going container ships as part of the proposed Marine Highway Initiative (MHI) that will remove 20,000 daily truckloads off U.S. highways, transferring the cargo onto 66 new American-built ships. The proposal also calls for cargo-handling financing for new ports and terminals as well as creating 2,000 jobs for mariners.
 
The site must be located within the Continental United States, Alaska or Hawaii and be available for immediate use for steel fabrication and ship construction. Existing or currently inactive shipbuilding sites will also be considered.
 
The successful site will also require the capabilities for:
•    Ships to be launched either off a reinforced pier, slipway or concrete dry-dock, depending on site characteristics and cost
•    New steel fabrication building to accommodate steel sections of up to 75 feet high along with requisite bridge cranes
•    Heavy industrial use on stable land (marshlands will not be considered)

The shipyard site will employ 250 people at full operation, mostly welders and fitters. Indirect jobs in steel, pipe, paint and other applications will also create an additional 750 support jobs.
 
State and local assistance for site improvements, employee hiring and training as well as permit fast tracking is appreciated for immediate utilization. Finance approval is dependent on a competitive shipbuilding environment.

Currently, the United States is experiencing low levels of investment in transportation, clean air, manufacturing, fuel-efficiency and family wage jobs, all of which can be addressed by the Marine Highway Initiative (MHI). This green marine highway can be built for $250m in taxpayer funds using federal loan guarantees rather than outright grants. Utilizing U.S. Maritime Administration Title XI loan guarantees, the MHI will build 66 fuel-efficient ships to carry the cargo of 20,000 truckloads along the East and West Coast corridors, creating support for bank loans used to stimulate U.S. jobs and economic development; shipyard, cargo handling, trucking and sea-going jobs; community college training for shipyard workers; fuel savings for American shippers; and less foreign oil imports, carbon emissions and taxpayer spending on highway maintenance.

Founded in 1998, California-based Santa Maria Shipowning & Trading is a U.S. owned company established to build and operate state-of-the-art container ships for the U.S. (Jones Act) trades.

For inquiries, please contact Santa Maria Shipowning and Trading by email at [email protected] or via phone at (707) 586-2472.

(www.SantaMariaShipping.com)