Vigor Industrial, the privately owned Portland company that bought Todd Pacific Shipyards of Seattle a year ago, plans to acquire Alaska Ship and Drydock (ASD), based in Ketchikan, Alaska. The acquisition price was not disclosed, The Seattle Times reports.
The deal, expected to close by March 1, must be approved by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the state's development arm that owns the Ketchikan shipyard, home of Alaska Ship and Drydock.
Alaska Ship and Drydock will continue operating much as it has been, according to owner Randy Johnson, who plans to stay with the company.
"The purchase of ASD by Vigor will increase the capacity and competitiveness of the Ketchikan shipyard in many ways, positioning Ketchikan and the state of Alaska to not only continue our high level of service to existing customers, but to significantly participate in exciting new markets emerging in the North Pacific and Arctic oceans," Johnson said in a news release.
Some shipbuilding for Alaska is still done along the Gulf of Mexico coast, said Doug Ward, ASD director of shipyard development.
The deal will better position the region for "the emerging oil and gas opportunities that are coming up," he said.
Vigor owns the 60-acre Swan Island shipyard in Portland, the Harbor Island yard in Seattle and operations in Tacoma, Everett, Bremerton and Port Angeles.
It paid $130 million for Todd Pacific Shipyards last February and has more employees in the Puget Sound region than in Portland.
Vigor, which employs about 1,800, serves such customers as commercial fishing and cargo fleets, oil-transportation companies, Washington State Ferries and the Alaska Marine Highway System. It also maintains and renovates Navy aircraft carriers and Coast Guard icebreakers.
ASD, which has about 120 year-round workers, handles marine maintenance and repair projects in Ketchikan and, under Johnson, began building new vessels and forged a public-private partnership through the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
Vigor's Adam Beck will become ASD's president. He worked at the Ketchikan yard for five years before joining Vigor, where he is general manager of the Vigor Marine subsidiary's regional operations.
The deal, expected to close by March 1, must be approved by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the state's development arm that owns the Ketchikan shipyard, home of Alaska Ship and Drydock.
Alaska Ship and Drydock will continue operating much as it has been, according to owner Randy Johnson, who plans to stay with the company.
"The purchase of ASD by Vigor will increase the capacity and competitiveness of the Ketchikan shipyard in many ways, positioning Ketchikan and the state of Alaska to not only continue our high level of service to existing customers, but to significantly participate in exciting new markets emerging in the North Pacific and Arctic oceans," Johnson said in a news release.
Some shipbuilding for Alaska is still done along the Gulf of Mexico coast, said Doug Ward, ASD director of shipyard development.
The deal will better position the region for "the emerging oil and gas opportunities that are coming up," he said.
Vigor owns the 60-acre Swan Island shipyard in Portland, the Harbor Island yard in Seattle and operations in Tacoma, Everett, Bremerton and Port Angeles.
It paid $130 million for Todd Pacific Shipyards last February and has more employees in the Puget Sound region than in Portland.
Vigor, which employs about 1,800, serves such customers as commercial fishing and cargo fleets, oil-transportation companies, Washington State Ferries and the Alaska Marine Highway System. It also maintains and renovates Navy aircraft carriers and Coast Guard icebreakers.
ASD, which has about 120 year-round workers, handles marine maintenance and repair projects in Ketchikan and, under Johnson, began building new vessels and forged a public-private partnership through the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
Vigor's Adam Beck will become ASD's president. He worked at the Ketchikan yard for five years before joining Vigor, where he is general manager of the Vigor Marine subsidiary's regional operations.