Pittsburgh-Area Companies Dip Into Boat-Building Waters
Pittsburgh Business Times
13 January 2012
By Anya Litvak, Reporter
Campbell Transportation Co. Inc., which operates the region’s
largest fleet of towboats, has plunged into the boat-building
business, capitalizing on increasing demand for new vessels.
Campbell has been rehabbing vessels for years at its Dunlevy
facility, but this is the company’s first stab at new
construction.
In Elizabeth, Blank Welding & Blank River Services Inc. also
is getting into new vessel construction for the first time.
At the root of this increased demand for vessels is a retiring
fleet built during the 1970s and early 1980s, when government
incentives spurred boat manufacturing, according to James
McCarville, executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh
Commission.
There also is a shortage of vessels regionally, as more and more
travel to large coastal ports to deliver coal shipments for
international dispatch, he said.
“Customers have told us that it’s difficult to arrange for vessels
and barges to move their cargo,” McCarville said. “We’ve got a
vested interest in seeing that stock get rebuilt and refurbished.”
An additional impetus for Campbell came from the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act, according to Peter Stephaich, chairman and
CEO.
“We were, quote unquote, stimulated,” Stephaich said. “It actually
worked.”
Campbell received a grant of about $365,000 and contributed about
$150,000 to purchase equipment for its new fabrication shop. It
also added about 10 employees last year to run the facility.
The company’s first two vessels — both harbor tugboats that will
retail for about $2 million each — are expected to be ready this
spring, Stephaich said. Campbell will keep one of the boats for
its own fleet and is shopping the other to prospective buyers.
Meanwhile, Blank Welding & Blank River Services Inc. is in the
process of buying a seven-acre parcel of land next to its current
operation and converting the buildings into a boat fabrication
facility, a $1 million effort.
Owner Richard Blank said he’s hoping to close the deal within the
next six months and start manufacturing there next year, which
will require him to hire about 10 new employees.
“Our plans are to build the boat, use it, put a for-sale sign on
it, and, once it sells, build another boat,” he said.
The vessel also will be available for leasing, he said.
Blank decided to get into the boat-building game because of an
increase in demand for vessels with 2,000 horsepower or more,
which can push more and heavier barges.
In addition to the growing demand for new vessels, there’s also
been an uptick in barge production, McCarville said.
Brownsville Marine Products LLC has ramped up production on
increased orders from customers for the next two years, according
to Mike Hennessey, vice president of sales. The company plans to
churn out 165 barges in 2012 and 180 in 2013, up from double
digits just three years ago.
Increased coal exports, the anticipated widening of the Panama
Canal and tax incentives, such as 100 percent bonus depreciation,
drove the increase, he said.
Both Campbell and Blank also build and rehab barges. In fact, new
barge construction is another new business venture for both
companies.
Campbell is manufacturing its first two new barges in West
Virginia, Stephaich said. Blank said his company has orders for 10
new barges in the next five years.
Anya Litvak covers energy, transportation, gaming and accounting.
Contact her at alitvak@bizjournals.com or (412) 208-3824.