M/V Cathlamet in ESR’s Faithful Servant dry dock.
When the 328 foot lengthy Washington State Ferry M/V Cathlamet struck one of many mooring dolphins on the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal close to Seattle, on July 28, 2022, two sister shipyards — Everett Ship Repair and Nichols Brothers Boat Builders— provided fast help.
Washington State Ferries, which described the strike as “a hard landing,” stated the M/V Cathlamet had been “significantly damaged.” The incident is still being investigated by the NTSB and the U.S. Coast Guard, which categorized it as a serious marine casualty.
Both Everett Ship Repair (ESR) and Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) have skilled working relationships with Washington State Ferries (WSF) and, as we reported just lately, have an extended expertise on working collectively on passenger vessel initiatives.
Everett Ship Repair, of Everett, Wash., has expertise with WSF as a neighborhood drydocking contractor since 2020. ESR is able to docking all vessels inside WSF’s fleet utilizing its Faithful Servant dry dock which accommodates vessels as much as 436 ft x 110 ft with a lifting capability of 8,000+ tons. ESR served because the prime contractor for the M/V Cathlamet emergency repairs and subcontracted Nichols Brothers Boat Builders for the pickle fork metal building, which was fabricated on Whidbey Island at NBBB’s facility. NBBB additionally has vital expertise with WSF, imcluding constructing six new-construction superstructures for vessels of the Kwa-di-Tabil class and the Olympic-class ferries.
“ESR and NBBB value WSF as a customer, and immediately wanted to help when news broke of the M/V Cathlamet allision,” stated Gavin Higgins, CEO of each ESR and NBBB. “Our crews are very familiar with WSF vessels, not only do we repair and build the vessels, we are also routine passengers on the Mukilteo/Clinton route. The WSF system is very important to each and every one of us and our businesses.”
The Cathlamet arrived at ESR on August 29, 2022. Coordination between WSF and ESR started, and a undertaking scope of labor course of was recognized. First the vessel could be inspected, engineering and design would comply with for the affected areas and new-fabricated modules. Upon design completion, erection of the pickle fork module would happen at NBBB. Once the pickle fork module was full it woud be loaded onto a barge and transferred to ESR. ESR would then set up the pickle fork and apply paint and coatings to the vessel in accordance with WSF’s paint specs.
ESR executed the undertaking course of plan because the prime contractor. The vessel was drydocked, an inspection was accomplished in addition to under-waterline work.
The M/V Cathlamet was then positioned dockside and work started eradicating the broken metal and getting ready the vessel for the brand new metal construction.
Meanwhile NBBB started building on the pickle fork module. Once the module was full, it was then barged from NBBB’s facility in Freeland to ESR’s facility on the Port of Everett.
The new pickle fork was then put in at ESR, and a brand new paint system was utilized to the brand new metal. Lastly, the vessels methods have been examined and the vessel was re-delivered to WSF.
“As an emergency repair job the M/V Cathlamet project was a unique opportunity for NBBB and ESR to create and execute an agile repair plan that utilized the companies’ capabilities in both new construction and repair,” stated ESR undertaking supervisor Kristin Burkhart. “ESR and NBBB teams coordinated and worked to complete this repair scope using rolling wave planning to integrate conditions found into production execution and sequencing in the goal of delivering the M/V Cathlamet back into service with quality repair work performed efficiently. ”
The M/V Cathlamet was redelivered to WSF on March 2 and can quickly return into service.
