Santa Maria Shipping has proposed developing a shipyard at the Port of Olympia's marine terminal that would generate 50 jobs initially and perhaps 250 more later.
The project depends on the U.S. Maritime Administration agreeing to back 87.5 percent of the money Santa Maria borrows for the venture.
Without the loan guarantee, the shipyard won't materialize. Santa Maria awaits word from the agency.
"We're focused on establishing the yard and getting the first ships out," said Capt. Virgil Elkington, Santa Maria's labor relations manager. "And that's why we picked Olympia, because we think we can grow here."
Santa Maria also will host an "informational fair" at South Puget Sound Community College on Oct. 25 to discuss the shipyard plans and the types of jobs that would be created. Most people would be hired to do welding and metal-fitting.
Cousins Stas and Isidore Margaronis own the Santa Rosa, Calif., company, which has yet to build a ship.
The Olympia operation would build container ships smaller than average.
The first ship would be 300 feet long and would take 14 to 18 months to complete.
Within that time, Santa Maria would try to launch its second phase, which would enable it to build larger ships, Elkington said. Still, even these ships would be smaller than what's typical.
The idea is to forge container ships that could sail into shallow-water ports, giving them an advantage over bigger cargo ships, Elkington said. Demand for these types of ships is growing, both for commercial and military use.
Santa Maria hired E.D. Hovee & Co., based in Vancouver, Wash., to draft the report on the shipyard's economic impacts.
According to the report:
- Santa Maria would hire 50 employees for the first ship. Stas Margaronis has said that workers would be paid $16 to $24 hourly, depending on experience.
- The second phase would add 250 workers, for a total payroll of $12 million.
- Both phases combined would stimulate about 120 spin-off jobs in Thurston County.
- Initial operations would put $56,800 in property taxes and $19,000 in sales taxes into local government coffers. Of that money, Olympia schools would receive $22,800.
- If the second phase cranks up, property taxes would increase to $137,000.
- The port could attract federal funding to support shoreline improvements such as dredging.
Having a potential port tenant compile such a detailed analysis is encouraging to see, especially when it comes to manufacturing jobs, said Heber Kennedy, port property development director.
"There are not that many manufacturing jobs going on out there right now," Kennedy said.
The city recently approved raising height limits in some of the port's industrial areas to 65 feet, an important decision for Santa Maria, which needs buildings tall enough for indoor cranes, Kennedy said.
Elkington thinks the timing of the proposed shipyard is good because the Maritime Administration is pushing for more domestic shipping.
Cargo ships offer an alternative to moving freight by truck on congested freeways, Elkington said. For instance, one of Santa Maria's ships would divert 150 containers from the road.
Pentagon officials have also shown interest in transporting military supplies on smaller ships, he said. During wartime, putting cargo on several smaller ships is less risky than loading all the supplies on one large ship, which the enemy could sink in a single attack.
However, the prospective military uses are less certain than the commercial ones, Elkington said. "It's not money in the bank -- we don't have an order book yet."
Scott Wyland is a business reporter for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-357-0748 or swyland@olympia.gannett.com.
Santa Maria Shipping will host a workshop on Oct. 25 at South Puget Sound Community College to discuss its proposed shipyard in Olympia.
The workshop will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2011 Mottman Road, Building 27, in the student union. For more information, call 360-377-7080.
On the Web
Santa Maria Shipping LLC: www.santamariashipping.com