Bay Area to upgrade dry dock facility to handle Post-Panamax vessels

   Bay Area officials are set to sign a deal next week that would provide the only West Coast pit stop for post-Panamax vessels.
   The proposed deal between the Port of San Francisco and BAE Systems, which runs a ship repair facility at the city’s dry dock near Pier 70, would give the firm a new 10-year lease. With the lease in hand, BAE plans a $5 million upgrade to the facility, allowing it to service vessels too large for the Panama Canal, or post-Panamax.
   BAE’s most frequent customer, Princess Cruises, will provide $3 million of the upgrade money.
   Port officials expect the upgraded facility to provide more city revenue and more jobs. While normally employing 200 union workers, the dry dock workforce swells to 1,000 when large vessels are brought in for repair work. A large vessel call at the dry dock also generates up to $1 million in sales and tax revenue for the city.