Mare Island Dry Dock Closes After Losing USCG Contract
California’s Mare Island Dry Dock posted a notice on its webpage on January 1 reporting that it has made the “difficult decision” to end operations due to “unfortunate circumstances beyond our control.” The decision to close the operation was effective immediately and reportedly puts as many as 80 full-time employees out of work.
The City of Vallejo, California, said it had been informed of the business decision by the dry dock company on December 30. They called it an unfortunate development noting that the company and the shipyard facilities on Mare Island had been a long-term contributor to the area’s economy.
“According to MIDD, the closure stems from unforeseen business circumstances, including the loss of a critical U.S. Coast Guard contract that had an immediate and material impact on the company’s financial stability,” reported the City. “Despite efforts to secure additional financing and contracts, MIDD determined that continuing operations was no longer viable.”
Mare Island is the historic home of the first U.S. naval station on the West Coast and until 1996 was the location of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Mare Island Dry Dock had been in operation since 2013 having taken over the shipyard facilities, including two concrete graving docks able to accommodate ships up to 700 feet (213 meters) in length. It also had 1,300 linear feet (almost 400 meters) of berthing. Reports said at its peak, the company employed as many as 1,000 people. The Vallejo Sun newspaper however reports the yard’s sales were down 65 percent over the past three years.
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Mare Island had provided maintenance services to the U.S. Coast Guard for the icebreakers Healy and Polar Star. Reports are the yard recently lost a competition for maintenance of the Healy which instead will go to Vigor Marine.
After the loss of the contract for the Healy, the company said it was looking for replacement work but its finances had been greatly weakened. The company was also bidding for a new 5-year maintenance contract for the heavy icebreaker Polar Star.