by BigRiver » July 27, 2017, 1:03 pm
I looked up the archived stories about the conversion on Boatnerd news. No $$ amount was ever specified... Can this really have been 9 years already?
Conversion, repowering of John Sherwin delayed due to economy
11/12/08 - Cleveland - The repowering and conversion of a Great Lakes freighter taken out of long-term storage this summer and towed to Sturgeon Bay has been put on hold as its owners wait to see what happens with the economy.
Interlake Steamship Co. President Mark Barker said Monday that work on the 806-foot John Sherwin has been put on hold. "Right now, the demand for steel has dropped considerably globally and steel companies are shutting down capacity to deal with that," he said. "That's got everyone pausing a little bit to see if this is a short-term realigning of inventory or if this is the global economy coming to a stop."
Barker said work on the ship - plans of which called for adding new engines and converting the 50-year-old ship to a self-unloader - had been under way, though not a lot of that work had been planned for this winter. "We're going to put the work on hold and see what the economy does," he said.
While numbers aren’t known, Boilermakers Local 449 President Mark Heimbecher said the hold on work is expected to have an impact on employment levels at the yard. He said Bay Shipbuilding is actively looking for additional work to fill the void left by the hold on the Sherwin. "It did change the work outlook at the shipyard because that was a fairly sizable job, and it's going to impact some members," Heimbecher said.
Pat O'Hern, vice president and general manager of Bay Shipbuilding Co., said they are working on securing additional projects for the yard and expect winter lay-up to be early this year as shipments on lake slow down due with the economy. "While we're going to lose the Sherwin for the last six weeks of work, we're going to gain some work from the fleet coming in earlier and we hope to replace the Sherwin with another lay-up boat that has a rather large amount of steel work on it," he said. O'Hern said they expect to be hiring people for winter work.
Bay Shipbuilding is also adding new engines to another of Interlake's vessels, the Charles M. Beeghly. That work is expected to go forward, Barker said.
He expects the Sherwin to remain in, or around, Sturgeon Bay. The Sherwin had been in lay-up since 1981 until an Interlake customer told the company they were looking for additional capacity. Bay Shipbuilding had about 700 employees at the yard earlier this fall.
"We're just taking some time to evaluate this with the diligence it needs," Barker said. "I don't think anyone knows what's going on with the economy right now."
From the Green Bay Press-Gazette
Editor's Note: The vessel was towed to Sturgeon Bay in late August and work on the conversion began shortly thereafter. The Sherwin was built in 1958 at the American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio. She was lengthened in 1973. The vessel has been laid up as surplus tonnage since 1981, but saw some use as a grain storage hull near Chicago recently.
I looked up the archived stories about the conversion on Boatnerd news. No $$ amount was ever specified... Can this really have been 9 years already?
Conversion, repowering of John Sherwin delayed due to economy
11/12/08 - Cleveland - The repowering and conversion of a Great Lakes freighter taken out of long-term storage this summer and towed to Sturgeon Bay has been put on hold as its owners wait to see what happens with the economy.
Interlake Steamship Co. President Mark Barker said Monday that work on the 806-foot John Sherwin has been put on hold. "Right now, the demand for steel has dropped considerably globally and steel companies are shutting down capacity to deal with that," he said. "That's got everyone pausing a little bit to see if this is a short-term realigning of inventory or if this is the global economy coming to a stop."
Barker said work on the ship - plans of which called for adding new engines and converting the 50-year-old ship to a self-unloader - had been under way, though not a lot of that work had been planned for this winter. "We're going to put the work on hold and see what the economy does," he said.
While numbers aren’t known, Boilermakers Local 449 President Mark Heimbecher said the hold on work is expected to have an impact on employment levels at the yard. He said Bay Shipbuilding is actively looking for additional work to fill the void left by the hold on the Sherwin. "It did change the work outlook at the shipyard because that was a fairly sizable job, and it's going to impact some members," Heimbecher said.
Pat O'Hern, vice president and general manager of Bay Shipbuilding Co., said they are working on securing additional projects for the yard and expect winter lay-up to be early this year as shipments on lake slow down due with the economy. "While we're going to lose the Sherwin for the last six weeks of work, we're going to gain some work from the fleet coming in earlier and we hope to replace the Sherwin with another lay-up boat that has a rather large amount of steel work on it," he said. O'Hern said they expect to be hiring people for winter work.
Bay Shipbuilding is also adding new engines to another of Interlake's vessels, the Charles M. Beeghly. That work is expected to go forward, Barker said.
He expects the Sherwin to remain in, or around, Sturgeon Bay. The Sherwin had been in lay-up since 1981 until an Interlake customer told the company they were looking for additional capacity. Bay Shipbuilding had about 700 employees at the yard earlier this fall.
"We're just taking some time to evaluate this with the diligence it needs," Barker said. "I don't think anyone knows what's going on with the economy right now."
From the Green Bay Press-Gazette
Editor's Note: The vessel was towed to Sturgeon Bay in late August and work on the conversion began shortly thereafter. The Sherwin was built in 1958 at the American Ship Building Co., Lorain, Ohio. She was lengthened in 1973. The vessel has been laid up as surplus tonnage since 1981, but saw some use as a grain storage hull near Chicago recently.