Mare Island Dry Dock shuts down after loss of Coast Guard work
The ill-timed Mare Island drydock closure will leave the US with a hole in its shipyard capacity (Source: MIDD)
Mare Island Dry Dock in Vallejo, California, has ceased operations with effect from January 1, citing what it described as “unfortunate circumstances beyond our control”. The closure affects up to 80 full-time employees and removes a significant ship repair facility from the US West Coast. The City of Vallejo said it was notified of the decision on December 30.
According to the city, “despite efforts to secure additional financing and contracts, Mare Island Dry Dock determined that continuing operations was no longer viable”. The city added that the company attributed the shutdown to “unforeseen business circumstances, including the loss of a critical US Coast Guard contract that had an immediate and material impact on the company’s financial stability”.
The yard recently lost its bid to continue maintenance work on the US-flagged Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, with the contract awarded to Vigor Marine of Portland, Oregon. Mare Island Dry Dock said the loss of the contract left insufficient financial headroom while it sought replacement work.
Over the past five years, the yard had carried out maintenance on polar icebreakers including the US-flagged Healy and Polar Star, and had been pursuing a new five-year maintenance contract for Polar Star.
The closure takes a major repair asset offline at a time of continued demand for US yard capacity, and for icebreaker repairs in particular. The site included two concrete graving docks capable of handling vessels up to 213.36m in length, along with more than 365.76m of berthing.
