Shipyard Authority announces CIP funding to restore 3,000 ton slipway

The  Shipyard Authority, in a media release, announced on Jan. 14, that the Governor’s Office has authorized $1 million from CIP funds for the Shipyard’s phase-II of its Slipway Restoration Project (SRP), supporting continuous efforts to restore and elevate the 3,000 ton slipway’s operating capacity.

Samoa News reported on the 2017 CIP funds released by the Department of Interior for American Samoa last week, totaling over $9million for a variety of infrastructure projects.

Funds for this phase, according to the Authority, are primarily for fabrication, installation and assembly of specialized components and already fabricated parts, from bottom shoes-plates, horizontal beams, cross-girder, uprights to other critical hardware of the front-end, with the aim to achieve acceptable levels of aptness for safe operations.

Moefa’auo Bill Emmsley, CEO of the Authority, said, “They will also simultaneously increase the Shipyard’s baseline revenues to stay viable, which over time has lost its competitive-edge truncated by array of structural deterioration and depreciative fundamentals after years of neglect…”

The Authority noted “the scheduled task of activities will take 10-12 months to fully materialize, followed by extensive testing and evaluation, with an attempt to ‘certify’; raising its ‘reliability factor’ feasible enough to underwrite by an insurance assessor.

“We’re anxious to restart the work, as soon as administrative protocols are completed,” Moefa’auo said.

NEW BUILDING

On another project funded by ASEDA, the media release said “the Shipyard is also happy to announce that after only 4-months of construction (with several major setbacks), the complex two-story building of 360 ft. x 40 ft. (or 21,600 sq. ft.) is slated to be completed by the last week of February 2018 (but NLT 1st week of March 2018).”

The Shipyard Authority is planning to officially dedicate the new facility, (barring any unforeseen delays) by the middle of April of this year, when it is expected to be in full operation.

The building project is on budget. It will house and stage six (6) technical shops: Diving & Salvage; Machine and Fitting (inside and outside); Welding and Fabrication; Pump and Valve; Sandblasting & Paint; Maintenance & Operation Shops; plus 2 (two) supportive units: stock & tool rooms; and, administrative & business functions, which collectively would augment efficiency to the Shipyard’s business and operation performances and add “value” to its propensity.

DMWR CONTRACT

The Shipyard media release also noted that the Authority has recently signed a “contract extension” with the Department Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) “to add ten (10) more 'alia (catamaran fishing boats) to the list of boats marked for repairs, after ten (10) had been successfully completed and delivered to their owners, during the 1st round.”

This project represents the Shipyard’s ongoing efforts to “diversify” its business activities, acting as a buffer to lessen the impact on its operation, when fishery issues take “their merciless toll, which often are beyond our control.

“Moreover, the project ‘fine-tunes’ technical skills of our staff in preparation for the eventual augmentation of the Super Alia (Va’atele) project, when it becomes a ‘viable’ venture to pursue,” Moefa’auo said.

He pointed out “these three (3) projects represent roughly 65% of the Shipyard’s ongoing major operational activities, apart from its routine mission, which is to provide dry-docking and dock-side services to boats of all types and sorts on an uninterrupted basis.”

The Shipyard Authority, through its media release, goes on to thank the Governor for his continued support and to our “stakeholders” for their patience, as we endeavor to ‘Make The Shipyard Great Again’.