Cascade General Busy "On All Fronts"

Cascade General entered the new year with a wide range of work underway at the Portland Shipyard. After an 18-day overhaul and stern thruster installation on the cruise ship Regal Princess was successfully completed on December 15th, engine installation continued on a 124 Mw power barge for service in Guatemala. The 260-foot barge Kahoku, owned by Young Brothers and used in Hawaiian inter-island Ro-Ro service, was towed to Portland for extensive repair and renovation, and the 350' US Army Corps of Engineers dredge Essayons was drydocked for annual maintenance, hull and machinery repairs.

ATC Alliance Agreement and Tanker Work

At the same time, an alliance between Cascade General and Alaska Tanker Company has been signed, formalizing a long-standing relationship between the companies for the performance of maintenance and repair services. ATC is the largest operator of American-flagged tankers, and two of the company's ships were in the yard in December--the Marine Columbia for structural and main engine repairs, and the Prince William Sound for an emergency drydocking.

"Cascade General has traditionally been the dominant supplier of ship repair services to the Alaska North Slope fleet and has extensive experience with the overhaul of the eleven ships now under the ATC flag," stated Cascade General Executive Vice President Andrew Rowe.

By the end of January, three more VLCCs were scheduled for lifting in the 983' Dry Dock 4 at Portland Shipyard--the SeaRiver North Slope on January 15th, for replacement of six bottom plates, the SeaRiver Benicia on February 15th, for similar work, and ATC's Overseas Chicago, for a 50-day overhaul to include plate replacement, tank coating and structural upgrades.

Power Barge

The Esperanza, a 124 Mw floating power station, is designed by Kvaerner Masa Marine of Vancouver, Canada. MAN B&W Diesel AG is the prime contractor and Cascade General is responsible for all on-site construction and assembly. The building system takes full advantage of modular techniques and requires a complete range of engineering and production skills. All the mechanical and structural components were assembled in Portland Shipyard's assembly bays, and placed in the hull by crane. The power is generated by seven MAN B&W V-18 engines, each weighing 330 tons mounted on a 279 feet long by 104 feet wide deck barge.

Busy ahead

A conversion project has begun with the selection of Cascade General to convert a shallow-draft, 218' x 60' bare hull into a 161-passenger luxury cruise ship to operate on the Columbia-Snake River System. Named the Columbia Queen, the project is being carried out for Delta Queen Steamship. The vessel was originally constructed in Louisiana in 1994 for use as a casino riverboat. In its new role, the ship will be powered by the two existing engines driving new Z-drives, plus two additional engines turning conventional shafts.

Cascade General has also continued its involvement with the US Navy at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, with a major overhaul on the 563' Spruance-Class guided missile destroyer USS Fife. The more than $10 million contract required mobilizing over 150 workers to Puget Sound for a 3 month period.

A second mobile team was dispatched to Honolulu, Hawaii to perform biennial repairs to American Hawaii Cruises S/S Independence, drydocked in Honolulu in January for 17 days. This 682' ocean liner was built in 1951 and is the last remaining ocean-going cruise ship under the American flag. As it approaches 50 years of age, the Independence requires expert attention to maintain its US Coast Guard certification.

"This broad range of work will enable us to keep the company running near capacity through the winter," stated Rowe. "These projects all have very specific demands, and give us the chance to demonstrate our wide range of engineering skills. They also prove that the modernization and restructuring of work practices that we have undertaken at Portland Shipyard are now paying dividends. We set ourselves the strategic goals of continuing our diversification in 2000. Cascade General is able to compete across a wide variety of market segments, and is clearly an innovator among shipyards."

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Cascade General operates Portland Shipyard, the largest and most complete ship repair and industrial facility on the West Coast of the United States. We provide full-service repairs and conversions for tankers, cruise ships, bulk carriers, container ships, government vessels, tugs, barges and workboats. Cascade General's Portland facility includes a 60-acre (24.2 ha) yard, 550,000 square feet (51,096 square meters) of craft shops, more than 7,600 ft. (2,326 meters) of full-service repair berths, and two floating dry docks.