Portland Shipyard unveiled a new 330-metric ton boat hoist Tuesday, providing a boost to Maine’s maritime economy.
The Marine Travelift Inc. boat hoist replaces an aged mobile lift that frequently broke down and, for safety, had been limited to hoisting lighter boats. The new machine, acquired with the help of a $990,500 federal Small Shipyard Grant, will serve a diverse fleet in Casco Bay including commercial fishing vessels, fireboats and pilot boats, ferries and public agency vessels.
“This is a great day for Portland Harbor,” shipyard owner Phineas Sprague said in a joint statement issued by Portland city officials. “Not only can we service larger commercial and recreational vessels that currently call Portland Harbor their homeport, we will attract vessels from all over the North Atlantic.”
A number of recent shipyard grants from the Maritime Administration have gone for big mobile hoists from Sturgeon Bay, Wis.-based Marine Travelift. In December 2017 Yank Marine Services, Dorchester, N.J., introduced its 820-ton Marine Travelift hoist, at $3.5 million the biggest on the East Coast and second largest in the U.S.
A Small Shipyards Grant of $961,676 in 2012 got Yank Marine on its way to upgrading its lift capacity, helping to replace a 200-ton lift at its Tuckahoe, N.J., facility with the 300-ton-Travelift. At the time, that was the biggest boat lift in the state.
The old 200-ton machine was traded in to obtain the 820-ton lift, which Yank Marine president Bette Jean Yank positioned the Dorchester shipyard on Delaware Bay to service a wide range of vessels in the Mid-Atlantic states that otherwise would need to steam far for hauling out. Sprague said the same of the new Portland lift.
A tug in the slings of Portland Shipyard's new Marine Travelift boat hoist. Jessica Hathaway photo.
“Until now, larger fishing vessels, tugs, ferries, yachts, and schooners needed to bypass or leave Portland Harbor for service and repair because of our limited hauling capacity. Not anymore. Portland Harbor is open for business.”
The addition of the Marine Travelift hoist at the 100 West Commercial St. shipyard is part of a broad effort by city officials and the Maine Port Authority to make an old rail yard on the Western Waterfront suitable for modern maritime commerce.
That has included re-zoning and lifting height restrictions, to allow for the new boat hoist, a taller boat shed, and other projects, including a freezer warehouse proposal that was not pursued by its developers. It brought years of debate, pitting supporters in the maritime and fishing community who want to reinvigorate the commercial waterfront against city residents concerned about harbor views and traffic.
The latest round of $20 million in Small Shipyard Grant program money announced last month will help buy two similar-sized Marine Travelift boat hoists: A 300-ton hoist with $1 million awarded to Jarrett Bay Boatworks Inc., Beaufort, N.C., and a 400-ton machine supported with a $1 million grant to Glendale Boat Works Inc., Channelview, Texas.
