NEW BARGE NAMED

The name of the new barge under construction at Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair has been announced. In Donjon's Fall 2010 newsletter, accessible online here, the barge has been announced to be SEAJON ENTERPRISE, which honors the new partnership between Donjon and Seacor Marine. I had first reported that Erie Shipbuilding was in talks with Seacor on December 30, 2008, and nearly two years later it appears Seacor now has a presence in Erie.

In addition, according to the article, the yard is planning to build a mid-gate at the 800' mark of the drydock for 2011. This will allow the drydock to be flooded in two separate sections and allow construction to continue while vessels are drydocked.

The article states, I should point out, that the tug and barge will have a length overall of 913 feet. If this is true this will mean the barge will be over 800 feet long, making it much bigger than the JOYCE L. VANENKEVORT/GREAT LAKES TRADER, the ATB that it was originally to be based on.

Revised 01/18/11: Barge length, according to Donjon, will be 740'. The newsletter appears to have been a mistake.

Erie Shipbuilding Update

I have also been informed that Erie Shipbuilding is currently in talks with SEACOR Marine, an operator of offshore vessels servicing the gas and oil exploration industries and a subsidiary of SEACOR Holdings, for SEACOR to buy part of the shipyard's operations.

At this time it is unknown what SEACOR plans to do with its stake in the operation, but as SEACOR is a large operator of chemical tankers, offshore vessels, articulated tug-barges and harbor tugs, they could be interested in new construction at the yard.

Time will tell what becomes of this situation and what the future holds for Erie Shipbuilding LLC.