News Release #MARAD 06-17
The General Ship Repair Corporation in Baltimore, MD was awarded $388,903 to support the purchase of a dry dock wash water removal and processing system.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $9.8 million to 18 U.S. small shipyards through its Small Shipyard Grant Program. These investments support industrial modernizations that will increase productivity and allow the country’s small shipyards to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.
General Ship’s new 18,000 gallon Dry Dock Water Removal and Processing System will be utilized to recover wash water from the company’s two dry docks and will replace the existing system which is currently performed using smaller pumps and 500-gallon portable tanks. The new system will have a series of automated pumps, piping and specialized filtering barge to deliver the water from the dry docks to our shore facility. Wash water is generated primarily from blasting and cleaning operations as well as rain water. Regardless of the cause, General Ship Repair is required to recover and process all water that falls within the boundary of the dry dock. The entire system will be constructed and installed by General Ship craftsmen.
The grant includes new material handling equipment to remove blast material, mud and marine growth from the dry docks to our disposal facility. A powered conveyor system will efficiently move material from the dry docks.
Overall, this new process will improve efficiency, enhance our environmental program, and enable our customers to complete their projects within a smaller performance period.
More from the Maritime Administration’s grant announcement:
“Small shipyards play a significant role in our country’s maritime sector, which contributes to our economy, security, and infrastructure,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “In addition, these grants will support local communities by creating jobs for working families.”
Small shipyard facilities vary in size, from family-owned businesses employing a few dozen workers, to multifaceted establishments with hundreds of employees. The grants, which were primarily available to U.S. shipyards with less than 600 production employees, are generally less than $1 million each, but can make a huge difference in a shipyard’s bottom line.
“U.S. shipyards produce some of the world’s best-built vessels,” said Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby. “These grants will fund the kinds of upgrades and modernization that ensure America’s shipbuilding industry remains strong and competitive internationally.”
Since 2008, MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program has awarded $174 million to 169 small shipyards, helping them to modernize operations, improve efficiency and boost productivity with employee training and new technologies. Including direct, indirect, and induced impacts, total economic activity associated with American shipyards is nearly 400,000 jobs, $25.1 billion of labor income, and $37.3 billion in GDP.