Snow Boat Building has been awarded a contract from the Navy to build a 40'x17' workboat-large.

The small heavily built steel vessel with aluminum superstructure will be operated by a crew of two and have capacity for up to five passengers. It will have a capacity for a 3,100-lb. total payload.

Propulsion power will come from a pair of Cummins QSM11 mains each developing 455 hp at 2,100 rpm, which will give the vessel a bollard push of 22,000 lbs. or a speed of nine knots.

As a Naval shore installation support vessel, the workboat will be capable of assisting barges, submarines and other naval vessels. It can also be employed in opening and closing security barriers or to tow/push other floating port support equipment.

Based in Seattle, Snow Boat Building is known for its quality aluminum fabrication and general commercial boat repair. The yard has built everything from seine skiffs for the Alaskan salmon fishery to sturdy and practical crewboats,

Ken Hocke has been the senior editor of WorkBoat since 1999. He was the associate editor of WorkBoat from 1997 to 1999. Prior to that, he was the editor of the Daily Shipping Guide, a transportation daily in New Orleans. He has written for other publications including The Times-Picayune. He graduated from Louisiana State University with an arts and sciences degree, with a concentration in English, in 1978.