G&G building next vessel on its own

G&G building next vessel on its own Bahamas trade specialist G&G Shipping is adding the 11th vessel to its fleet. This time, though, the newbuilding will be delivered by a Florida-based sister company.
   Work has started on a 190-foot, shallow-draft multipurpose vessel at the yard of St. Johns Shipbuilding, located on the St. Johns River about 30 west of St. Augustine, said Jim Hampel, G&G chief operating officer. The shipbuilding company, started by G&G founders Steve Ganoe and Mike Grandonico, has already built an ocean supply vessel for the Gulf of Mexico oil industry, and will likely build other vessels for the offshore oil well industry.
   The new vessel being built for G&G will match the Sea Express II, a vessel G&G put into service last August. The new ship will have a draft of seven feet, roll-on/roll-off capability and a capacity to handle 38 TEUs of containerized cargo. G&G expects the new sister ship to be delivered by the first quarter of 2008. It is being built under the supervision of Bobby Barfield, St. Johns' general manager, a 30-year veteran of the shipbuilding industry.
   Hampel said the specialty vessels G&G needs for the Bahamas trade are hard to come by. G&G decided it could build the vessels itself, using the design for four other vessels already in service.
   'We're at capacity right now,' Hampel said about G&G's fleet serving the growing Bahamas trade. 'We need another ship.'