Great Lakes shipyards boost employment

Great Lakes shipyards boost employment    Great Lakes shipyards have entered their busiest time of the year as vessels, such as the 1,000-foot freighter Edwin H. Gott, come off line for seasonal maintenance and upgrades.
   The Gott, one of the largest U.S.-flag vessels on the lakes, entered the yard at Bay Shipbuilding Co. in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., on Monday to have new engines installed.
   This project and other annual winter maintenance work on U.S.-flag lakers will provide more than 1,200 jobs at U.S. shipyards in the region, according to the Maritime Cabotage Task Force.
   There are three large shipyards and several 'top-side' repair facilities on the Great Lakes. Bay Shipbuilding's winter workforce is expected to top 750. Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair in Erie, Pa., will raise its workforce to more than 140 from December to April. Employment at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wis., will grow to more than 200 workers during the winter. These three yards alone generate an annual payroll of nearly $50 million, according to the task force.
   Smaller shipyards and repair facilities are located throughout the Great Lakes. Toledo, Ohio, is home to H. Hansen Industries and IronHead Marine. Cleveland, Ohio, hosts Cleveland Shiprepair Co. and Great Lakes Shipyard. Basic Marine is based in Escanaba, Mich. Other support services are available in Buffalo; Detroit; Chicago; Muskegon and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.; and Milwaukee.
   The U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleet comprises about 70 large self-propelled vessels and integrated tug-barge units. In a strong economy, these vessels can carry upwards of 120 million tons of dry- and liquid-bulk products and generate more than 1,600 shipboard and shore-side jobs. It actually requires more than 2,200 mariners to keep the fleet sailing from late March until late December or early January.
   When these vessels arrive at their winter berths, they often return to the yards they were built.
   'Maintaining and modernizing American domestic vessels is a real economic driver in communities with shipyards and repair facilities,' said Mark Ruge, the Washington-based task force's counsel, in a statement. 'On the Great Lakes, it has been estimated that a wintering vessel generates at least $800,000 in economic benefits to the community.'
   Two other U.S.-flag lakers have been repowered in recent years. In addition to the one repowering scheduled for this winter, new generators will be installed on some vessels, and a mid-sized ship will have its steam turbine rebuilt. Other projects for this coming winter include renewing steel in cargo holds and overhauling bow thrusters. Bow thrusters jet water in either direction and allow vessels to better maneuver in confined waters.
   Unloading system conveyor belts will be replaced on several vessels. Almost every U.S.-flag laker is capable of discharging cargo without assistance from shore-side personnel or equipment.
   Most of these projects will not be performed in dry dock. However, a number of U.S.-flag lakers will be placed in dry dock so the U.S. Coast Guard can sound the hull during an internal and external stem-to-stern inspection of the vessel, the task force noted.
   When the U.S.-flag Lakes fleet returns to service next spring, Donjon's yard in Erie will continue work on building a 740-foot-long self-unloading barge that will be coupled with a tug also under construction there. As construction of the barge ramps up to full speed, employment at the yard will reach 200.