Toledo Shipyard takes shape with marine firm at the helm; Port Authority banking on new facility
February 26, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
By DAVID PATCH | Source: Toledo Blade
[Ironhead Marine Inc.'s] 20,000-square-foot fabrication shop, with its 72-foot-high roof and 50-foot clearance under its traveling crane, is the first stage of what Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority officials hope will be a long-term revival for the port-owned Toledo Shipyard.
A grand-opening ceremony is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
The modern, if plain-looking, building replaces a decrepit, decades-old machine-shop complex that was torn down shortly after Ironhead formally took over the shipyard operation in early 2006, replacing Manitowoc Marine Group, which opted out of its shipyard lease the previous fall.
…”the [Toledo] port authority has given me the opportunity to develop a new facility here, and we’re one step closer to having a viable shipyard with these new facilities.”
“It looks great. It looks like it’s going to be certainly a major upgrade from the antiquated facilities that used to be there,” James Hartung, the port authority president who toured the high-bay shop last week, said afterward.
Ironhead’s aggressive pursuit of business, Mr. Hartung said, “just bodes well for us. We’re going to create a market presence in the [shipyard] industry.”
“What makes it look better is there’s work going on inside it,” agreed Warren McCrimmon, the port authority’s seaport director.
The port authority, which paid for the $2 million structure from its own funds and county and federal grants and has leased it to Ironhead, continues to seek funding sources for its future expansion to 40,000 square feet, both port officials said.
The Algosteel, which came in for rudder and mechanical repairs along with topside work, was the first Canadian lake freighter to dry-dock in Toledo since 1999, Mr. LaMantia said.
While no ships from the domestic Great Lakes fleet are scheduled for five-year surveys or heavy repairs this winter, Mr. LaMantia said, “We see that as a growth opportunity. We’ve had some promising talks. We’re hoping that the American fleets are going to support the shipyard also.”
Ironhead’s projects are keeping about 70 workers busy, split about evenly between the shipyard premises and a fabrication shop near the International Cargo Docks that the firm has leased for several years.
