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| In its second year of operation on Mare Island in Vallejo, Allied Defense Recycling is supplementing its larger ship efforts with smaller vessel contract work. The photo shows a worker busy on a barge dismantling job. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald) |
Gary Whitney's vision for the future
of Allied Defense Recycling's Mare Island Shipyard is equal parts pragmatic and
hopeful.
In a recent interview at the
company's Nimitz Way office -- more than a year after Allied began bringing its
first ship dismantling work into two dry docks -- Whitney said he defines the
word "potential" as "you ain't never done nothing."
Whitney, the shipyard's general
manager, recited the company's accomplishments as it heads into its second
year:
Allied kept 40 full-time employees,
with "peaks and valleys" of up to 150 workers during boon times. This
month, the shipyard's Dry Dock 3 is seeing the frequent turnaround of ships
needing hull-scouring and repair, and is just finishing a five-barge
dismantling contract in neighboring Dry Dock 2. Students from the California
Maritime Academy are frequently brought to the shipyard for hands-on
experience, and former crewmembers of the ships passing through Mare Island
often stop by for a final peek at the past.
Although Allied has breathed new
life into the aging dry docks, its dismantling work has not led to as dramatic
a comeback as some predicted.
Only two federal contracts to
dismantle the nearby Suisun Bay Reserve "mothball" Fleet vessels have
come to Mare Island. The rest have been tugged thousands of miles -- through
the Panama Canal to ship dismantlers in Texas. Some 20 vessels, broken up into
four bidding periods, have left the fleet since Allied took in the SS Solon
Turman and the SS President (later traded for the SS Lincoln). Most, if not
all, have stopped by Mare Island to be cleaned before continuing on to Texas.
Competitors seemed to have taken
note of Allied's emergence as the only West Coast dismantling facility, with
its own permanent dry docks. Other dismantlers began paying the U.S. Maritime
Administration -- the mothball fleet's caretakers -- for its old ships, instead
of requiring government subsidies to break them down.
"It's been a surprise in a
sense," Whitney said of Allied's first year. "The surprise is we do
not know how our competitors are going to react or how they're going to bid.
But ... it's a competitive bid in which the government determines the best
value, and the government has determined that we have only been the best value
so far on the first few."
Whitney speculated that his
competitors may be playing hardball, though he cannot say for sure.
"You've got a new player on the
block, called us. That's the only thing I can think of," Whitney said.
"The price of metals, it's up a little, but it still fluctuates up and
down. ... So, you look at common denominators. What has changed? The only thing
that has changed is you have a new player on the West Coast that wasn't there
before."
Vallejo officials served in the
early days as Allied's champion and liaison with outside officials. They
continue providing help, such as talking to environmental agencies, but have
not been hand-holding to get Allied business, city officials said.
Vallejo Economic Development
Director Ursula Luna-Reynosa said her department helps Allied where it can, but
indicated that it cannot help a business sink or swim.
"It's self-evident that Mare
Island, in general, is good for maritime uses (like Allied,)" Luna-Reynosa
said. "(But) at the end of the day, economic development is not
specifically about winners and losers. It's about creating an overall
environment that supports business."
The Maritime Administration's
announcement last month of nearly $10 million worth of small shipyard grants
did not include Allied Recycling Defense, and that's because the company did
not apply for it, Whitney said.
"The biggest problem with the
grants normally is that you have to have matching funds, in a lot of cases. At
the present time, as you can see," Whitney said, gesturing around a
sparsely furnished office space, "most of our dollars are going straight
into the business, not being set aside."
To make ends meet and keep Allied's
workers employed, the shipyard has also sought out commercial work, earning
contracts to maintain, store and repair barges. Whitney is keeping an eye on
available contracts for the Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and obsolete Navy vessel disposal. It recently bid on two
abandoned fleet tug boats in Richmond and further barge disposal work.
Whitney said he continues to see a
bright future for Allied.
"(The first year's) been
decent," Whitney said. "And where we're going from here is upward and
onward."
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York
at (707) 553-6834 or jyork@timesheraldonline.com
Source: Times Herald. By Jessica A. York.
10 April 2012
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_20362146/vallejo-shipyard-business-reflects-first-year-mare-island
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