Front Street Shipyard, Belfast, Maine, has partnered with Brødrene Aa, Hyen, Norway, to form Arcadia Alliance, a new venture to market, sell, and build carbon-fiber ferries throughout the United States.
Arcadia Alliance is working with the Maine Composites Alliance and Martin Grimnes, a Norwegian who founded Brunswick, Maine-based Harbor Technologies Inc. Harbor Technologies is a composite manufacturer specializing in the infrastructure market that has built hybrid composite beams for bridges in multiple states.
Founded in 1947, Brødrene Aa currently designs and builds carbon-fiber passenger vessels in its 86,000-sq. ft. Norwegian facility situated along a fjord. The company stresses their fuel efficiency and environmental friendliness compared with aluminum or fiberglass vessels.
“Given the significance of ferry transport to travelers in coastal regions coupled with concerns about gas consumption and emissions, efficiency of our country’s ferries is critical,” said JB Turner, president of Front Street Shipyard. “Brødrene Aa has a progressive design to reduce consumption and emissions, and they have an exceptionally efficient construction method we can apply to the U.S. ferry market at Front Street Shipyard.”
According to its website, Brødrene Aa got its start constricting mahogany leisure crafts and wood ferries, and began using composite material in the 1970s. The company made yachts in the 1990s and constructed its first carbon-fiber passenger vessel more than a decade ago. Representatives from Front Street Shipyard met with officers from Brødrene Aa in Hyen earlier this summer.
“Given Front Street Shipyard’s modern facility and boatbuilding capabilities, we believe their team can deliver the same high-quality vessels in the United States that we produce in Norway,” said Leif Riksheim, chairman of the board at Brødrene Aa.
In announcing the partnership, still in its early stages, the company said it was working to develop ferry designs for the U.S. market, with the hope to begin construction on the first fast ferry in 2016.
