THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9608010491
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 58 lines
In a bid to enter commercial ship repair, Metro Machine Corp. has taken over the Erie, Pa., shipyard once operated by the now defunct Jonathan Corp.
The Norfolk-based ship-repair firm has a 5-year lease for the 44-acre facility on Presque Isle Bay off Lake Erie.
Metro hopes to use the Erie facility to assemble a new line of tankers it has been trying to sell. In the meantime, Metro will operate the yard as as a winter repair facility for the commercial freighters and colliers plying the Great Lakes.
``If there were a facility in the world that comes closest to matching certain specific needs of the Marc Guardian tanker, it was that facility,'' said Richard Goldbach, president of Metro Machine.
Metro has been unsuccessfully marketing its innovative double-hulled tanker design known as the Marc Guardian for several years. Its plans called for the tanker to be built in modules at its yard in Chester, Pa., and assembled at the now-closed Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Metro is leasing part of the naval yard.
The Erie yard gives Metro another assembly venue.
Leasing this yard marks Metro's return to commercial ship repair for the first time in more than 12 years. While the company never did much commercial work, it has focused entirely on serving the Navy in recent years.
The yard was once operated by Erie Marine Enterprises Inc., a subsidiary of Jonathan, another Norfolk-based ship-repair firm.
Jonathan went out of business in June 1995 after it was unable to get enough work to meet the demands of its bankruptcy reorganization plan.
For Metro, the Erie yard promises to bring in between $2 million and $3 million a year, Goldbach said. It is equipped with a 1,250-foot-long dry dock.
``There's a shortage of repair facilities when the Lakes ice over,'' Goldbach said.
The company is already negotiating several contracts and Metro will employ between 100 and 200 workers there.
Those workers will be represented by Local 2000 of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers under its contract with Metro, said Phil Evans, business agent of the Chester, Pa., union local.
Metro employs more than 500 people in Hampton Roads and nearly 900 in all its locations.
Metro's venture into Erie is another step in a wide-ranging diversification. The company also holds an option on land in Fernandino Beach, Fla., to build a shipyard to repair and maintain warships from the Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, Fla.
That project was placed on hold after a meeting last month of the Florida governor's cabinet delayed approval of Metro permit applications, Goldbach said.
Metro also is bidding to build the Navy's proposed arsenal ship, a floating missile battery that would help defend the fleet and project force ashore. That project could be worth several billion dollars, if the Navy goes ahead with it. ILLUSTRATION: Map
Pennsylvania by CNB