First ship arrives at Mare Island for dismantling:

The SS Solon Turman nudged its stern into the entry of Mare Island's Dry Dock 3 on Thursday, with the toot of a horn and an array of waving passengers on board beneath an American flag.

The arrival marked the last voyage of the 9,520-ton, 690-foot cargo Mothball Fleet ship, before it is slowly whittled down to its basic components over the next nine months by Vallejo newcomer Allied Defense Recycling.

The ship's dismantling follows the former naval shipyard's dormancy since it closed in 1996, and comes more than 40 years after Mare Island produced its last vessel, the attack submarine USS Drum.

Allied Defense Recycling received city planning approval in late 2009 to open up for ship dismantling and repair service. It then spent the next year seeking final environmental permit approvals, including a deadline-driven effort to dredge the Mare Island Strait by last year's end.

Dry Dock 3 hasn't been used for ships since spring of 1996, said Lily Smith, an Allied Defense Recycling spokewoman.

Vallejoan Dante Amico, a 24-year Navy veteran, continued watching the 50-year-old cargo ship Thursday afternoon, after most of the day's 100 onlookers had dispersed. Amico, an unemployed electrician, said he, like many others, is hoping to earn a job with Allied Defense Recycling.

"Mare Island is one of my homes," Amico said, perched on one of several old wooden blocks lined up outside the shipyard's chain-link fencing. "This gives you a feeling of great expectations. I'm sure a lot of people feel the same."

Nearby, Vallejo sisters Helyn Luechauer and Beverly Snyder recalled the shipyard's former glory, and said they were glad to see Mare Island regain some of its ship-related history.

Luechauer, a World War II welder and retired Hollywood dentist, said she was drawn to Mare Island Thursday to herald a newly functioning dry dock.

"I've prayed it would happen," said Luechauer of the returned industry. "I've regretted all the jobs lost."

Benician Pete Hartstra drove to various lookout points that morning to see the ship, always just behind it as it was towed 6 miles from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet to Mare Island. As if to welcome it, Hartstra gestured toward the ship, it's bottom half red with rust and "Lykes Lines" stenciled on its side.

"It's history in the making," Hartstra said. "It's new history - it's still being made here ... Now the work begins."

A second "mothball fleet" ship due for dismantling, the SS President, is scheduled to arrive at Mare Island in March.

For more information about Allied Defense Recycling, visit http://www.californiadrydocks.com/ or (707) 648-DOCK (3625). Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at (707) 553-6834 or jyork@timesheraldonline.com

Source: Times-Herald. By Jessica A. York. February 4 2011

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