Fairhaven Shipyards gets $1.3 million federal boost

BELLINGHAM – Fairhaven Shipyard will use a
$1.3 million federal grant to add a crane and other improvements to its
floating drydock on the southside waterfront.

Neil Turney,
president of shipyard parent company Puglia Engineering, said the
federal help was welcome.

“In the last two years, they’ve given
millions to all our competitors and we never got a dime,” Turney said.

About half the money will be used to equip the drydock Faithful
Servant with an 80-ton crane, Turney said. The shipyard’s existing
crane can’t be moved on and off the drydock.

The remaining money
will be used to add sandblasting and painting equipment, and for
wastewater treatment systems, Turney said.

The Faithful Servant is
a converted submersible barge that Turney’s company purchased in China
to enable the servicing of larger vessels at the south side site it
leases from the Port of Bellingham. The company then spent millions
converting the vessel for shipyard use here.

The shipyard has been
using the Faithful Servant since November, but it still needs some
improvements to help the company recover its investment.

“There
are items we need in order to make the new drydock function fully,”
Turney said. “This really, really helps.”

Turney said the federal
government provides financial aid to small shipyards to keep the
industry competitive and provide good-paying jobs. The shipyard’s local
employment is about 150 people.

The grant was announced Thursday,
April 15, by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. The grants came through the
Maritime Administration’s Supplemental Grants for Assistance to Small
Shipyards program. Murray is chairwoman of the Transportation and
Housing Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing funding for the
Department of Transportation and Maritime Administration.

“Small
shipyards in Washington state are a critical piece of our domestic
maritime industry and our economy,” Murray said in a press release.
“Especially while families in Washington state continue to struggle,
these grants are important to helping our domestic shipping industry
stay strong and competitive.”

– Bellingham Herald