Dakota Creek Industries Inc. located in Anacortes, WA, one of the Pacific Northwest’s larger shipyards, will start construction in July of two large oceanographic vessels that will keep workers busy through 2015.
The shipyard currently employs about 230 workers at its Anacortes site, and that will rise to about 300 as the work on the ships ramps up, said Dakota Creek Vice President Mike Nelson.
The 238-foot ships, when done, will be operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, Mass.
The two ships will be among the larger contracts Dakota Creek has done, following a multiyear contract to build three oil-rig maintenance ships for Louisiana-based Otto Candies LLC and three large tugboats for Crowley Maritime, based in Florida. Dakota Creek won the contract, for about $140 million, from the U.S. Navy.
The two ships will include sonar equipment able to map the ocean floor and underlying layers of sediment, as well as acoustic equipment that can measure many layers of ocean currents.They will be equipped with Siemens Industry Inc. diesel-electric drives and will operate with a crew of 20, and up to 24 scientists, according to a Siemens release.
This announcement is great news for the community of Anacortes, as it will help create more jobs and support for local businesses in Anacortes and throughout Skagit County.
