ern equipment," Robertson added. "There's a whole new generation of tug boats.... The new tugs are more crew friendly, providing a better working and living environment. They're more fuel efficient and certainly have much less adverse impact on the environment." "The propulsion systems are also much more advanced now," Robertson noted. There are only a few single screw tugboats left in the American fleet, and those, he said, are mostly being replaced now, adding to the demand for new builds.
Capital Investment at Chesapeake Shipbuilding
Founder and owner of Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Corp., Charles Robertson. Robertson also owns American Cruise Lines and Pearl Seas Cruises.
At the same time demand for new vessels is increasing, Robertson suspects a decreasing trend in the capacity of small and medium size American shipyards. This trend is created by more shipyards going out of business than coming into it. To increase the capacity of his own shipyard, Robertson has made a substantial capital investment in Chesapeake Shipbuilding over the past three years. The shipyard can now build vessels up to 375 feet. "In the last year we completed two new hull fabrication buildings with overhead cranes and all the ancillary equipment, and a transfer system from those buildings out to the launching ways." The fabrication buildings are 59 feet high, allowing for the assembly of a complete tug, from beginning to end, in a controlled indoor environment.
A metal worker works on a vessell hull with updated automatic welding equipment at Chesapeake Shipbuilding's yard.
48 MN
November 2008