Bellingham Boat Builder Charts New Course Ferry Deal Opens New Market For Maritime Contractors

Maritime Contractors Inc. made its name refurbishing older ships.

But the company’s president, Romy Mendoza, sees a future in building new vessels, and a $12 million contract to help build a state ferry is just what the skipper ordered.

“This is a new direction for us,” Mendoza said. “This gives a chance to do some real complicated work.”

The deal signed last week makes MCI a subcontractor to Seattle’s Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp. Todd has a contract with the state Department of Transportation to build one jumbo ferry with options to build two more over three years, at a total cost of about $180 million.

MCI will build passenger decks and pilot houses for the ferries in its waterfront shop in south Bellingham’s Fairhaven neighborhood.

In the past, MCI’s work has been rehabilitating ships, especially U.S. Coast Guard vessels. The 82-foot Port Bennett is in dry dock now and a 370-foot midget cutter arrives soon.

In 1992, the company added new-ship construction to its repertoire. Last July, it launched a Coast Guard buoy tender - the first steel-hulled vessel built in Bellingham since World War II and the first large boat built here since the 1970s. A second 49-foot tender was launched in February.

Todd’s interest in MCI initially stemmed from state requirements that contractors use some minority-owned businesses as subcontractors. But Todd’s president, Roland Webb, said MCI’s $3.9 million buoy-tender project convinced him the company was a good choice.

“We looked at the quality of workmanship in those two Coast Guard ships and were impressed,” Webb said.

After MCI fabricates its parts for the Jumbo Mark II class ferry, they will be barged to Todd’s Elliott Bay yard and added to the ferry’s car deck and superstructure.

“This is very valuable experience for us,” Mendoza said. “It will give us an opportunity to grow on.”