U.S. Naval Ship Neptune at Burrard Yarrows
(Versatile Pacific) during refit.
West Coast Shipyards
Gunderson manufactures and re-
pairs railcars of all types at its 75-
acre facility along the waterfront in
northwest Portland. It also builds
and repairs barges and other marine
equipment.
LAKE UNION DRYDOCK
Circle 15 on Reader Service Card
Lake Union Drydock Company is
located virtually in the center of
Seattle on Lake Union, a body of
fresh water accessible through locks
operated by the Army Corps of En-
gineers. The largest lock allows
ships of up to 800 by 80 feet to enter
the lake, where water depth is gen-
erally 35-40 feet.
The 12-acre Lake Union Drydock
site has operated as a shipyard for
66 years, the past 40 under the same
ownership and management. The
company built several ships until
the end of the Korean War, but
since then has specialized in ship
repair, both government and com-
mercial. The facility has seven dry-
docks ranging up to 3,900 tons, and
maintains shops in all shipyard
trades that are capable of complex
ship overhauls to Navy, Coast
Guard, and American Bureau stan-
dards.
A separate ship repair division
serves the fishing industry and oth-
er non-government activities.
Encouraged by the upward turn
in the economy, Lake Union is pro-
ceeding with the purchase of new
equipment including lathes, air
compressors, sandblast pots, mobile
cranes, forklifts, and trucks. In this
manner management expects to
keep pace with the increasing needs
of customers.
Currently, the confirmed ship re-
pair commitments are at about the
same dollar volume as last year, and
management is optimistic that addi-
tional prospects under negotiation
will lead to a substantial increase in
the present level of employment.
MARCO SEATTLE
Circle 16 on Reader Service Card
The Shipyard Division of MAR-
CO Seattle is the "flagship" opera-
tion of the firm that was founded
more than 30 years ago. Though the
company has made significant con-
tributions in such areas as deck ma-
chinery and systems, particularly
for the fishing industry, shipbuild-
ing and repair have long been a
mainstay of the MARCO heritage.
The compact, fully paved, and
well-staffed shipyard enjoys an en-
viable reputation for its repair work,
due in no small part to its leadership
role in the design and construction
of vessels such as fishing boats, oil
spill recovery craft, tugs, and other
specialized vessels. Backed by a full
complement of in-house shops and
trade personnel, the Seattle yard
provides complete repair services to
vessels large and small, both on- and
off-site.
MARCO operates two floating
drydocks (designed and built by the
company) with lifting capacities of
500 and 1,800 tons, plus a 70-ton lift
Nichols Bros. Yard
with a side-tracking system that is
unique in the area. Yard shops in-
clude steel and aluminum, carpen-
try, paint, and a variety of machine
shops. MARCO also features full-
time mechanical engineering and
naval architecture departments
among its services.
In addition to fishing vessels and
fleet operators, the company's re-
pair clients include tug fleet opera-
tors, the Navy, the Coast Guard,
NOAA, and others.
NASSCO
Circle 17 on Reader Service Card
National Steel and Shipbuilding
Company (NASSCO) in San Diego,
the largest shipbuilder on the West
Coast, is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Morrison-Knudson Company of
Boise, Idaho. For the past 10 years,
NASSCO has been the leading pro-
ducer of tankers for the U.S.-flag
merchant fleet, delivering more
than 40 percent of all new tankers
built in the U.S. The shipyard is
also a leading supplier of U.S. Navy
auxiliary and amphibious ships.
In addition to ship-related work,
the company's Offshore Division is
capable of providing competitively
priced deck structures and other
modules for the offshore market.
Steel fabrication and machine shop
services to a variety of industrial
customers in southern California
are also provided.
NASSCO's current orderbook in-
cludes a $250-million contract from
Exxon Shipping Company to build
two 209,000-dwt tankers, with de-
livery scheduled for the last quarter
of 1986 and the first quarter of 1987.
Major conversion work includes the
reconstruction of two San Clemente
Class tankers (ex-Rose City and
Worth) into 1,000-bed hospital
ships (T-AH) for the Navy, a job
worth $186 million. Conversion of
the yard's third Fast Logistrics Sup-
port Ship (T-AKR) for the Navy is
nearing completion, with delivery
expected in August this year.
Ongoing repair work at the San
Diego yard includes: the tank land-
ing ship Bristol County (LST-1189),
the last of a five-ship LST Regular
Overhaul contract awarded in Octo-
ber 1982; a three-ship Navy crusier
SRA (Shipyard Restricted Avail-
ability) contract, with work to be
completed in Januarv 1986; the de-
stroyer USS Hewitt (DD-966) is the
last of a three-ship DD-963 Class
Navy SRA contract, scheduled for
delivery in September this year; reg-
ular overhaul of the amphibious as-
sault ship USS Tripoli (LPH-10), to
be completed in May 1986; and SRA
work on the destrover USS Merrill
(DD-976).
The LST Phased Maintenance
Program was recently awarded to
NASSCO by the Navy. This three-
ship contract involves a total of nine
repair availabilities—three on each
ship including a drydocking—over
the next five years. Work is to com-
mence late this month and is sched-
uled to be completed in January
1990.
In January this year the Pfc. Eu-
gene A. Obregon, NASSCO's second
Maritime Prepositioning Ship (T-
(continued on page 18)
E.L. Bartlett under repair at Marco Seattle.
16 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
(continued)
The new company, named Gunder-
son Inc., will re-establish some 400
manufacturing jobs in the Portland
area.
The acquisition was spearheaded
by C. Bruce Ward, a former presi-
dent of the FMC Division, and Wil-
liam A. Furman, president of
Greenbrier Leasing Corporation of
Oregon City, with financial assis-
tance from Standard Insurance
Company and the State of Oregon.
Greenbrier is a privately held railcar
leasing company.
In 1984, FMC and Greenbrier
Leasing entered into a joint devel-
opment contract, funded by Green-
brier, to design, engineer, and build
a new railroad car capable of carry-
ing double-stacked intermodal car-
go containers. The result is the new
TwinStack™ railcar that is rapidly
gaining acceptance from the rail-
road industry and major container
shippers nationwide. The success of
this new railcar and FMC's subse-
quent decision to divest its Portland
operation encouraged the investors
to make the acquisition.
Propeller repair at Dillingham.
8Slj*
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