March 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 7. FRONT STREET JOINS FORCES WITH NORWEGIAN FERRY BUILDER


BELFAST – Through history one can note how some people failed to see the benefi t of advancing technology. One of the most glar- ing mistake was the mariners of the United States missing the advantage of steam power and iron hulls. They remained steadfast in their belief of sails and wood and that really decided the future of the merchant marine. Front Street Shipyard in Belfast is looking at the advanced technology of composites and applying that to ferries. To put themselves in a better position they combined their endeavour with a Norwegian company that has been doing this for years. J. B. Turner, President and General


Manager, explained, “It really started through Martin Grimnes. He was kind of the key link between the Norwegians because he is Norwegian and ourselves. He has wanted to build composite ferries in Maine for years. It used to drive him crazy to see Maine building steel ferries all a time, which were completely fuel ineffi cient. He knew the Norwegians had been building carbon ferries over there since 2002, Brodrene Aa. Also initially involved was Steve Van Vogt and Paul Williamson. We had a bunch of meetings, but in time it really came down to Martin hooking us up with the Norwegians.” A couple of conversations took place, but they quickly realized they needed to make a trip to Norway to Hyen, on the Nordfjord. In June they went to Norway and visited with company offi cials and viewed the factory. “After spending a couple a days with them,” added JB, “it was really clear that they had the same philosophy, very similar in the way that we do things. We de- cided to continue the process and we signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August. That allowed us to really start collaborating better. Then they came over here during


the fall and toured our facility to make sure that we just weren’t a shack in the woods. Just recently they decided to set up a branch here and we established Arcadia Alliance. Brødrene Aa Norway will own 20 percent of Arcadia and Front Street Shipyard will own 80 percent of Arcadia. Arcadia Alliance will be the builder of the ferries, and Brødrene Aa USA will be the marketing and engineering side of it. Martin will stay on and work for Brødrene Aa USA on the sales side trying to fi nd groups interested in building these ferries.


“Our facility works out quite well,” continued JB. “Right now we can only build T class, which is 150 passengers and down, because of the fi re regulations with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is starting, and we are starting to work with the Coast Guard, to fi gure out what we need to do to build K class, which is over 150 passengers. They do this in Norway without any issues. The United States is actually being almost progressive and actually looking at what another country is doing and wondering how they could do the same thing. There is a meeting in Washington coming up about building commercial vessels with compos- ites. It does seem that the Coast Guard is reaching out and trying to get information on how the Europeans did it, which if we had been invited we would have been able to give them all kinds of information.” Another option is ambulance boats, which Brodrene Aa as built for several cus- tomers in Europe. These are smaller craft that can be used for all sorts of missions. “They make good sense when the helicop- ters can’t fl y,” said JB. “A boat can always get there with the right electronics equip- ment. It is another good option for people.” To make their position known to the


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One of the ferries built by Brodrene Aa of Norway.


powers that be in Washington they have hired a consultant, who formerly worked with the U. S. Coast Guard. His mission is to assist in getting this project moving forward quicker.


Another way they are trying to better their position they have joined the Passen- ger Vessel Association. They have a once a year convention in Washington and they went down to that. JB explained, “It was clear that it was a good group and they were very welcoming. They said it takes time to become part of the gang and prove yourself, but once you do they will support you. By being accepted by that group there is really a good combination of either private or pub- lic companies out there that are little more progressive than our state.


So why think carbon ferries? “Forget steel, that is so far out. Fifty years ago everybody, but Maine, made the jump to aluminum. In the beginning there was a big


pushback against aluminum as some said it was not as good as steel and it won’t last. Now, other than Maine, pretty much all of the ferries are aluminum. So it this same process that we have to go through. We are beginning the process of educating people of why go from aluminum to carbon, which cuts the weight basically in half. If you have a boat, say it’s 150 passenger that is about 100 feet long and if you run seven hours a day, because of weight savings, you can use smaller engines, which use less fuel, less maintenance costs and in a year you can make back the cost difference in one year. Just recently JB spent some time on the phone with somebody who was interested in building a number of small ferries for the West Coast. As he said, “The word is out there and people are interested. When it comes to people that are interested in


Continued on Page 8.


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