Rhode Island-based Blount Boats, Inc. has signed a sub-license agreement with Marine Applied Physics Corp. (MAPC) of Baltimore, Maryland, for the building of South Boats crew transfer vessel designs.
South Boats is located in the United Kingdom and has designed and built approximately 30% of the wind farm crew transfer vessels operating on European wind farms. Blount Boats has held the US license for South Boats designs since 2011.
In 2016, Blount Boats delivered the Atlantic Pioneer, a South Boats 21m transfer vessel, to Rhode Island Fast Ferry. The vessel is the first US-flagged crew transfer vessel to operate in US waters and services Deepwater Wind’s Block Island wind farm which is the first, and currently the only, offshore wind farm operating in the US.
MAPC works in composites for its smaller craft and in aluminum and steel for its larger craft. Vessel construction work is performed in Baltimore, Maryland, while its composite work is led by personnel in its Brunswick, Maine facility. MAPC’s Baltimore facility includes a 52,000 square foot deep-water fabrication facility containing two 180-foot bays that are serviced by 30-ton bridge cranes.
The facility includes full-service machining, electronics, and welding shops.
Marcia Blount , President of Blount Boats, explains: “We are thrilled to have found a well-qualified partner to build South Boats designs as the offshore industry develops and demand for crew transfer vessels increases exponentially. MAPC’s technical expertise, quality control, and location will assist in making South Boats the vessel of choice as we work together to ensure continued superb performance.”
The sub-license covers the waters off the coast of Maryland with other geographic areas added by written agreement.
“We are particularly excited to be working with Blount Boats as we have a longstanding admiration for their vessels and people. By collaborating with Blount on the production of South Boat designs, we are able to increase the collective production capacity, bring new technologies to the market, satisfy regional content needs, and rapidly introduce product to the rapidly growing market for Jones Act compliant crew transfer vessels,” Mark Rice , President of MAPC, said.