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36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? AUGUST 2013 The Shipyard EditionEastern Shipbuilding eyes bigger prizes while main-taining both quality and an astounding pace of work at their Panhandle locations. For these rea- sons and more, Eastern is one to watch.by Joseph KeefeA sweltering, early July visit by Maritime Reporter to East-ern Shipbuilding Group?s (ESG) two Gulf Coast fab-rication yards brought much more than the sheer breadth of its business backlog into sharp focus. That?s not to say the ro- bust 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 dif Þ cult to put into per- spective just how much upside potential resides in the Þ rm?s two Panama City- based yards.Stretching one mile from end to end, from entrance to the docks, Eastern?s Al- lanton location alone boasts 140 acres of working space and 6,000 feet of water frontage with another 158 acres avail-able for immediate expansion. A ship- builder?s series-build dream location, the amount of apron space and staging areas available for multiple projects is also impressive. Operating multiple lines of construction and in continuous business since it opened primarily as a Þ shing boat manufacturer in 1976, Eastern?s workforce, which includes a staff of 30+ engineering and design professionals as well their own Þ re department, has swelled to 1,550 employees, up sharply from 1,100 in 1980. With a dock draft of 26 feet and a 32,000 sq. ft fabrica-tion house fully equipped with state-of-the-art processing equipment, Eastern is fully capable of building projects of 670 foot LOA and Panamax beam. Fully EvolvedEastern?s original shipyard was estab- lished for the purpose of constructing commercial Þ shing boats. At the time, the company?s founder and President, Brian D?Isernia, owned a ß eet of com- mercial Þ shing vessels. D?Isernia en- tered shipbuilding game after determin-ing that the only way he could get the type of vessels he wanted was to design the vessels, write the speciÞ cations and then build them himself. Eventually, oth- ers took note of the quality there and by 1980, 26 commercial Þ shing vessels had been constructed and delivered for a va-riety of customers.D?Isernia ultimately decided to diver- sify Eastern to fulÞ ll any type of cus- tom vessel request, large or small. By 1981, Eastern was delivering Offshore Supply Vessels. Today?s ESG portfolio includes the delivery 320 vessels. More importantly, a state-of-the-art product line and fabrication process allows East-ern to build efÞ ciently in series, without sacriÞ cing quality. The growing Eastern portfolio now includes Offshore Supply Vessels, Tugs, Inland Pushboats, Ro- Ro/Passenger Ferries, Inland Transport Vessels, Barges, Fireboats, Research Vessels, Offshore Construction Vessels, High Speed Passenger Vessels, Fishing Vessels and more. Series Built ? for Export, too According to Steve Berthold, Eastern?s Eastern: Beyond the Backlog Inside ESG?s massive fabrication facility. MR #8 (34-41).indd 36MR #8 (34-41).indd 368/1/2013 9:37:04 AM8/1/2013 9:37:04 AM
