Todd Shipyards Corporation Announces Ferry New Construction Award by Washington State Department of Transportation

SEATTLE--(Business Wire)--
Todd Shipyards Corporation (NYSE:TOD) announced that its wholly owned
subsidiary, Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation ("Todd" or the "Company"), was
awarded a $114.1 million contract from Washington State Department of
Transportation, Ferries Division ("WSF") for the construction of two 64-Auto
Ferries with an option for a third.

Todd is currently constructing the lead vessel in the new class to be used on
the Puget Sound ferry route between Port Townsend and Keystone. The current
award is for the construction of vessels two and three in the class. As part of
this award, WSF has an option for the construction of a fourth vessel in the
class for $50.8 million, which must be exercised no later than May 31, 2011.

The contract will commence once the Company has received a Notice to Proceed
from WSF. The contract contemplates delivery of the second vessel in the class
18 months after Notice to Proceed, and the third vessel nine months after that
delivery. The competition to build the 64-Auto Ferry was open to all shipyards
located in the state of Washington.

"The selection of Todd to build the ferries, especially when combined with our
on-going work for the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard and
commercial customers, looks like a win on several fronts. Todd will be a very
stable employer for at least the next couple of years, and in the process help
train a new generation of trades people through our apprenticeship programs. We
get the opportunity to build quality vessels for our state and earn a fair
return in the process," Steve Welch, Todd CEO, said.

Todd performs repair and maintenance work on commercial and federal government
vessels and provides new construction and industrial fabrication services for a
wide variety of customers. Its customers include the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast
Guard, NOAA, the Washington State Ferry system, the Alaska Marine Highway
System, and various other commercial and governmental customers. Todd Shipyards
Corporation has operated a shipyard in Seattle since 1916.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this Report, which are not historical facts or
information, are "forward-looking statements." Words such as "believe,"
"expect," "intend," "will," "should," and other expressions that indicate future
events and trends identify such forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause
the outcome to be materially different than stated. The Company cautions that
any forward-looking statement reflects only the belief of the Company or its
management at the time the statement was made. Although the Company believes
such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, such
assumptions may ultimately prove to be inaccurate or incomplete. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect
events or circumstances after the date on which the statement was made.
Furthermore, market trends are subject to changes, which could adversely affect
future results. See additional discussion in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended March 29, 2009, and other factors detailed from time to
time on our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Todd Shipyards Corporation
Hilary Pickerel
Shareholder Relations
206-623-1635 Ext. 106



Copyright Business Wire 2009

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Ferry on a costly fast track - Tacoma News Tribune

Transportation: Changes made to original design, shorter schedule have more than doubled cost of vessel

Washington taxpayers are paying way too much money to design and build the vessels that will join the state ferry fleet, partly because state officials are in a hurry to get them built and partly because of a long-standing and costly practice of tinkering with boat designs.

Those are the views of state Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, a retired U.S. Navy captain and member of the House Transportation Committee, the legislative group that writes the transportation budget and oversees the ferry system.

“They have this culture of designing things in-house,” Seaquist said of Washington State Ferries. By custom-designing its own ferries instead of buying vessels “off the shelf,” the agency drives up the costs, he said.

David Moseley, assistant transportation secretary for ferries, acknowledged that the cost of a 64-car vessel now under construction will be pretty high because the state wants to get that first vessel into service by mid-2010. Construction is on a fast track, 18 months instead of 24.

But he disputes the notion that the ferry system has gone overboard on its designs. Moseley said the design of the 64-car ferry is based mostly on an existing vessel, the Island Home, which is now used on the East Coast.

That 76-vehicle, 1,200-passenger ferry cost $32 million to build and was launched in 2007 by the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority.

The first ferry of the Washington fleet expansion will cost more than double that: $65.3 million.

It will cost an additional $20 million to outfit the $65 million ferry, for a total cost of $85 million, Seaquist said.

Moseley points out that the design had to be modified, tailored to Puget Sound waters and state ferry terminals. The state is ordering two or three more vessels of the same design. Multiple vessels would give the state some economies of scale, lowering the average cost for each boat by spreading costs over several vessels, Moseley said.

“I’m hopeful that the bids we get on the next round will be much better than that,” he said.

Pierce County has more than a passing interest in the construction and deployment of the 64-car ferries.

For one, the county has lent its own ferry, the Steilacoom II, to the state to fill in on some ferry routes while the new ferries are being built.

Secondly, one of the new 64-car ferries eventually will be assigned to the state’s Point Defiance-Tahlequah run between Tacoma and Vashon Island. It will replace the 48-car Rhododendron, which was built in 1947 and is the oldest vessel in the fleet.

The state ferry system has been in a bind since November 2007. That’s when state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond ordered all four of the 80-year-old Steel Electric-class ferries pulled out of service because engineers said they were unsafe. Those ferries have since been sold and now are in use in Mexico, Moseley said.

Seaquist said it was a mistake to take all four of those boats out of service at once. The state should have tried to salvage at least one of them so there wouldn’t be so much urgency to fast-track construction of their replacements, he said.

“When they got rid of the Steel ferries, they were stuck needing to replace those boats immediately,” he said. “And they seized on the design of the Island Home ferries from Martha’s Vineyard.”

He and Moseley agreed that fast-track construction is making the boat much more expensive.

“We’re about to buy one of the most expensive ferries in history, and then we’re going to go out and buy two more of them,” Seaquist said. “We’re throwing away taxpayer money here.”

That first 64-car vessel is being built by Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle and at three other locations, including Jesse Engineering in the Tacoma Tideflats. The Tacoma company is building the fore and aft modules and will be sending them north by barge to Seattle later this month for assembly.

Todd brought the other shipyards on board because of the fast-track schedule to replace the Steel Electric ferries.

“It was a tight schedule,” Jesse Engineering president Jeff Gellert said. “They had to spread the work around.”

Seaquist said he also is concerned about the design of another vessel, a 144-car ferry that will be used on cross-Puget Sound runs such as the Bremerton-Seattle route.

“They’ve gone through $52 million just to design the ferry, and now we’re paying Todd Shipyards to do more detailed designs,” said Seaquist, whose 26th Legislative District includes Bremerton and Southworth, communities for which the ferry system is a vital element of life.

He said private ferry builders pad their construction bids to cover the risks they are taking by agreeing to build off someone else’s plans, Seaquist said.

“We’ve heard a lot of the criticism in how we manage the design of boats,” said Moseley, who took over the helm of the ferry system only 18 months ago.

Moseley and an executive for Todd Pacific gave a status report on the 64-car ferry construction to lawmakers earlier this month. That included all the design changes that had to be made to the Island Home designs to adapt the vessel to Puget Sound.

Among the changes:

• The shape of the hull was changed to fit Washington ferry terminals.

• The Island Home carries 76 cars and 650 passengers. The new ferry will carry 64 cars and 750 passengers.

• The length of the ship was increased by 19 feet.

• Bicycle holding areas were added and the air conditioning system was eliminated.

• The sizes of the fuel, fresh water and sewage tanks were increased to minimize delays for loading and unloading.

Seaquist said Washington State Ferries made so many changes to the design that the vessel no longer can be considered “off the shelf.” It’s a brand new class of vessel and carries with it additional costs, he said.

Those costs will worsen an already bad budget situation for the ferries, he said.

The Legislature has budgeted $115 million to design and build 64-car ferries during the 2009-2011 budget cycle. Lawmakers assume there will be at least three such boats. They also earmarked $2.5 million for finish design work on the 144-car ferry.

An additional $69.4 million is budgeted for 2011-13 to finish the three smaller boats. There also is $78 million in the budget, either to build a fourth 64-car vessel or to apply toward the 144-car ferry.

The long-range plan assumes that an additional $249 million would be spent on ferry construction in 2013-15, but lawmakers don’t know where most of that money would come from.

They will have only about $30 million on hand.

Moseley told members of the Senate Transportation Committee earlier this month that he doesn’t expect a decision to be made on whether to build a fourth 64-car ferry or the first 144-car ferry until the 2011 legislative session.

“We need both,” he said. “But my crystal ball is still fuzzy.”

Joseph Turner: 360-786-1826

joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/politics

Ferry facts

Four companies are working on different sections of the 64-car ferry for Washington State Ferries in order to finish the vessel in 18 months. State officials plan to put the boat into service in mid-2010.

Capacity Length

274 feet

Beam Draft Speed Cost (for first one) First ferry takesSecond also startsThird ferry takes

Port Townsend-on Port Townsend- Point Defiance-

Keystone routeKeystone routeTahlequah run

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Open Bids, More New Ferries for WSDOT - Marinelink.com

The Washington State Department of Transportation’s Ferries Division (WSF) took the next step in the process to build new ferries, opening bids this morning, October 8, on a contract to construct up to three new 64-car vessels. Todd Pacific Shipyards submitted the only bid.
Bids were solicited for construction and delivery of two 64-car ferries with an optional third vessel. Todd’s proposed bid price for the first two vessels in the contract was $114m. The WSF engineer’s estimate is $109.9m.
The timeline for vessel construction is approximately 20 months each for the first two vessels. The decision to exercise the option to add the construction of a third vessel will be made no later than May 31, 2011.
“This is another example of the significant progress we have made toward rebuilding our aging fleet to meet the growing needs of our ferry system,” said Paula Hammond, Washington Transportation Secretary. “While we still need to identify funding to sustain the system for the long term, I am looking forward to seeing these ferries operating on the Puget Sound in just a few short years.”
The formal bid opening was held at 11 a.m. at Ferries Division headquarters in Seattle. WSF intends to award the contract within ten days, after evaluating to ensure it meets contract requirements.

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Canada Improves Security on Domestic Ferries - Marinelink.com

Canada's Transport Minister John Baird announced proposed regulations to improve security for domestic ferry services. Under the proposed regulations, operators would be required to have security plans in place to help detect security threats and take preventive measures against security incidents affecting domestic ferries and facilities.

These measures are designed to safeguard ferry operators and their employees, adjacent communities, ferry workers and the Canadian public. The new security requirements would affect eight domestic ferry operators, 20 ferry routes and 32 ferry facilities, most of which are already voluntarily complying with the proposed regulations.

"Domestic ferries are an essential link in the transportation system and these proposed regulations would reinforce Canada's ongoing commitment to the safety and security of Canadians," said Baird. "These measures are an important component of our government's overall strategy to promote a safe, secure, and efficient transportation system that contributes to Canada's economic development."

Currently, Canada regulates internationally bound passenger ferries, as stipulated in the Marine Transportation Security Regulations. Since Canadian domestic ferries move more than 40 million passengers and 17 million vehicles annually, and employ close to 7,000 people, it is important to establish a regulatory security regime for this industry. In addition, the proposed regulations would also enhance Canada's security preparations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as several of the ferry routes are close to game venues.

The proposed regulations were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I on September 19, 2009. A 30–day comment period began on that date, during which time interested parties may provide their views to Transport Canada. After proper consideration is given to the comments received, Transport Canada will proceed to obtain final approval and publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II, at which time the regulations will come into force.

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Captain Throws It All In To Buy His “Retirement” Dream

Captain Throws It All In To Buy His “Retirement” Dream

Ferries System Owes Millions in Back Pay to Engine Room Employees - Kitsap Sun

By Ed Friedrich
Friday, October 2, 2009

Washington State Ferries must pay its engine room workers about $2 million for two years of watch turnovers.

A watch turnover is when a departing crew discusses engine room issues with an incoming crew. It takes only a few minutes, but the collective bargaining agreement stipulates that overtime of less than 15 minutes must be paid as 15 minutes of double time. The crews had never been paid for turnovers before.

The Marine Employees’ Commission (MEC), which resolves disputes between ferry workers and management, ruled on July 24 that the ferry system must compensate engine room employees for unpaid watch turnovers dating back to April 9, 2007. The sides have 90 days from July 24 to calculate the amount owed each employee and resolve the issue. If they can’t, WSF must pay $1.9 million plus interest to the union for the period of April 9, 2007 to March 31, 2009, for any watch turnovers since then, and attorneys’ fees.

“It’s a pretty complicated thing to calculate because we didn’t keep records exactly of the watch turnover time because we weren’t paying it,” said Jean Baker, WSF’s deputy chief of finance and administration. “ This is not compensable anywhere else in the marine industry, so we’re trying to set the standard here on how to do this.”

About 400 employees will receive back pay, she said.

Ben Davis, staff chief engineer on the MV Tacoma, and several other Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association members initially filed a class-action lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court in August 2004. They prevailed, and WSF was ordered to pay wages for watch turnovers plus interest, attorneys’ fees and double damages.

The state appealed, arguing that the grievance should have been handled by the MEC. The state Court of Appeals agreed and threw out the case. In doing so, however, it ruled that “watch changes are a regular, essential and required work activity for which the state must compensate under the CBA. And whether watch changes are work or whether watch changes must be compensated is not an issue for future grievance or arbitration.”

The grievance moved to the MEC, which had little choice but to go along with the appeals court. The commissioners weren’t happy about being put in that position, although they might have arrived at the same conclusion. They wrote that the appeals court “overstepped its bounds and directed us, in advance of arbitration, as to what our findings should be. We strongly believe it was inappropriate of the court to have given advance instructions to the Commission on the interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement.”

When contacted, Linda Hoverter, MEC special assistant, avoided the appeals court issue except to say, “It is unusual, but they do that sometimes.”

Karol Kingery, MEBA branch agent, said the union followed the appeals court’s direction and found the result “reasonable.”

“We took their edict that it had to be bargained and did exactly what we were supposed to do,” he said. Washington State Ferries argued that watch turnovers are part of routine duties for which engine room employees are paid well. The top 10 staff chief engineers earned from $141,000 to $169,000, including mileage, last year. Davis, who filed the lawsuit, pulled down $108,000. At the other end, the 10 lowest-paid oilers made $56,000 to $59,000.

Labor costs make up the majority of the ferry system’s operating budget. Over the next two years, it will spend $264 million, or 67 percent of the budget, on personnel, according to WSF spokeswoman Joy Goldenberg.

Ferries director David Moseley said he knows of no other operation that pays extra for watch turnovers.

“Past practice, not just within Washington State Ferries but within the maritime industry, has been that engine room crews do a quick watch turnover for a few minutes at the end of each watch and the beginning of each watch,” he said. “That’s what the standard has been in the maritime industry for a very long time.”

BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said WSF’s neighbor to the north pays one officer-in-charge 10 minutes of regular pay for what it calls “handovers.”

Turnovers at Woods Hole Steamship Authority, which runs ferry service in Massachusetts, are completed during the regular shifts, said General Manager Wayne Lamson.

Officials at the Staten Island Ferry in New York City didn’t respond about how it handles changeovers.

The union was awarded attorneys’ fees for the MEC process but not for the lawsuit. Its request for double damages also was denied.

The MEC arrived at the $1.9 million figure from calculations made by the union based on 15 minutes of overtime per shift per employee. The union submitted figures for three time periods — $1.9 million to April 9, 2007, 60 days before the grievance was filed; $4.2 million back to Aug. 11, 2004, when the lawsuit was filed; and $6.7 million, going back three years before the lawsuit. WSF didn’t offer any alternatives.

“We did not put a proposal on the table on what the back pay would be because our position was the back pay was not warranted,” Moseley said. “The MEC found differently than that.”


Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/oct/02/ferries-system-owes-millions-in-back-pay-to-room/#ixzz0T5No5aTZ

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Washington State Ferries to Receive Grant Money | NorthWest Hub

Washington State Ferries to Receive Grant Money | NorthWest Hub

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