Houston Chronicle by Sergio Chapa July 1, 2019
PORT OF BROWNSVILLE — Keppel AmFELS has built offshore drilling rigs and platforms here for decades. But the last few years have not been particularly kind to the offshore energy companies, which in the face of low oil prices and competition from shale, has delayed, canceled and scaled back projects.
Now, Keppel AmFELS is entering a new line of business: shipbuilding. At the company's facility about 14 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, crew are constructing two 775-foot-long container ships that will be powered by liquefied natural gas and carry cargo from the West Coast to Hawaii.
In doing so, Keppel AmFELS joins a small fraternity of companies that build merchant ships in the United States. It’s a fraternity that’s vital to Hawaii since a nearly 100-year-old law, known as the Jones Act, only permits American made ships with American crews to operate between U.S. ports.
Keppel AmFELS’ move into shipbuilding is also important for the Brownsville area and the U.S. maritime industry. The construction of the two ships will create some 700 jobs paying $18.48 an hour, more than double the average wage in one of the poorest regions in the state and the nation.
For the maritime industry, it’s an argument against weakening or repealing the Jones Act, which has come under fire from energy and other industries. The lack of U.S.-flagged merchant ships, for example, has kept LNG produced along the Gulf Coast to from being shipped to New England, which instead must import if from other countries.
But Matt Woodruff, president of the American Maritime Partnership, which represents and lobbies for a broad array of domestic maritime companies, said Keppel AmFELS shows that the domestic maritime industry can provide the ships to serve U.S. ports, providing jobs for American workers and crews.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Building-LNG-powered-ships-newest-industry-along-14062299.php
