As part of the Navy's effort to dismantle its outdated ships, Baltimore
Marine Industries Inc. has won a $4.1 million deal to scrap seven ships,
a Navy spokeswoman said yesterday.
The ship-breaking job is BMI's second since it was chosen as one of four
companies to dismantle U.S. ships under a federal pilot program that
began last year. The Sparrows Point shipyard
finished dismantling the USS Patterson this year for $4.2 million.
"It's a welcomed piece of news at this time of the year," said David
Cassidy, BMI's president. "It's
going to mean employment of 40 to 60 guys for the next three to four
months."
Cassidy said BMI, which has 550 employees, will recall idle workers to
dismantle the ships. Four ships will be towed next week from Norfolk,
Va., and three from Philadelphia the following
week.
The ships, all of which have wooden hulls, were used as minesweepers.
Cassidy said he did not know how old the vessels are.
In this latest round of ship-breaking orders, BMI's competitor on the
East Coast, Metro Machine Corp. of Norfolk, won a $2.8 million deal to
dismantle a steel-hulled cruiser.
Under the pilot program, the Navy awarded contracts to four companies in
September 1999 to scrap ships stored on the East and West coasts. Metro
Machine and BMI compete for ship-scrapping jobs on the East Coast, and
International Shipbreaking Ltd., based in Brownsville, Texas, and Ship
Dismantling and Recycling Joint Venture of San Francisco compete for
West Coast ship-scrapping jobs.
Before the government began the program, the Navy sold decommissioned
vessels to companies that often dismantled them overseas, without labor
or environmental oversight, and then sold the leftover metal on the
scrap-metal market for a profit. Under contract terms, the ship-breaker
is responsible for finding a buyer for the scrap metal, but proceeds
from the sale go to the federal
government.
Congress has more than doubled funding for ship-scrapping operations,
from $15 million for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 to $38 million
for the current fiscal year.
The ship-scrapping jobs are awarded through competitive bidding by the
Naval Sea Systems Command and are administered by the Navy's Inactive
Ships program office. Industry officials
estimate that about 60 ships are in line for scrapping.
Democratic Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland, who fought for the
increase in ship-scrapping funds in Congress this year, said through a
spokeswoman that she is "proud that BMI has won another ship-scrapping
contract. It's a tribute to their first-class work force and proven
track record in dismantling ships."