To the editor:
I read with interest the article in your November issue concerning the Islesboro ferry and the inability to find a shipyard to respond. I am presently working on a project for the State of Washington Ferry Service and thought one of their unusual purchasing practices might be of interest. While Washington has the similar low bid format of Maine purchasing (a practice that has affected ferry reliability and is part of the reason for my work), they require all Washington State Ferries to be built in the State of Washington. They pay a penalty, as there are only a few shipyards there and their labor cost is higher than the Gulf of Mexico. However, as more than half of the ferry construction cost is labor, they feel they come out better when all of the worker taxes are factored in. The ripple effect makes it even better.
It is no longer necessary to have a huge shipyard with presses and similar equipment to build a ferry as all plate is NC cut and you just weld it together.
BIW, or someone else, could cut plate and it could be assembled almost anywhere in Maine.
John Boylston
Naval Architect
Dresden