Hawaii orders lift U.S. Barge

A newly formed shipyard in Portland, USA, is about to deliver its first barge called ???Ho’omaka Hou??? in Drydock 3 at the Portland Shipyard. The U.S. Barge is co-owned by Vigor Industrial and Oregon Iron Works Inc., and announced its first contract 13 months ago. Young Brothers Ltd. in Hawaii ordered four oceangoing barges, and the Ho’omaka Hou, the first of them, should be finished in the next couple of weeks.

Since last year, U.S. Barge has obtained orders for five more barges from two other companies, including a four-vessel contract signed recently by Harley Marine Services Inc. of Seattle. Although there are other barge manufacturers in the Portland area, the partnership between Vigor and Oregon Iron Works created 200 jobs and allowed for the first new vessel construction at the Portland Shipyard in years.

Barge modules begin taking shape inside buildings originally constructed for the mass production of cargo vessels known as Liberty ships during World War II. As modules are completed, they are transported outside and welded together. The assembled barge is run over skids into the Willamette River, then floated to the drydock for final outfitting.

Vigor is a holding company for Cascade General Inc., which took over the shipyard when the Port of Portland sold it in 2000. Frank Foti, Vigor’s president, bought the shipyard with plans to expand ship-repair work. But he announced 10 months later that business setbacks had forced him to sell the crown jewel of the yard, Dry Dock 4, to a Bahamas shipyard for $25 million. The West Coast’s ship-building and ship-repair industry has all but dried up in the past decade because vessels can be built and renovated more cheaply in China, Korea and elsewhere. The Portland Shipyard primarily repairs U.S. military and Alaska ferry vessels.