Before the Pacific Marine Expo opened in late November, WorkBoat visited with Snow & Company, a Seattle-based shipyard located on the Lake Washington Ship Canal off Puget Sound’s Shishole Bay.
Shipyard president Brett Snow provided an update on the company’s projects during a tour of the facilities. The company is currently building 30’x15’x6’ Workboat Medium vessels for the Navy, wrapping up an initial 23-boat order, with an expected completion date of early 2025. Hull number 21 was under construction during the visit. That contract has grown to a $53,934,225 FFP IDIQ contract to procure up to 53 of the vessels.
The Workboat Mediums provide naval shore installations and are capable of meeting various port operations and barrier tending requirements. Through ZF W340 gears, twin Cummins QSL9-SW engines generate 286 bhp at 1,800 rpm each, offering 16,000 lbs of bollard thrust (in forward). The workboats assist barges, submarines, and other naval vessels; open and close security barriers; and tow and push floating port operation support equipment.
Additional shipyard projects underway at Snow & Co. included a 178'x68’ barge for waterfront neighbor Western Towboat, the second of two pilot boats for the Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association, New Orleans (since launched on Dec. 8), a strategically sized 25’11” fully electric tug, various maintenance and repairs on Navy tugs, and aluminum prototype constructions for local mariculture farms.
The shipyard's main building, originally a steel fabrication shop, later became home to an aluminum boat builder before Snow & Co. took it over six years ago. The facility’s character reflects its century-long history, blending the old with the new, as evidenced by their 1942 steam-powered crane. The unique asset was acquired by Snow & Co. three years ago and is capable of handling 75-ton lifts for vessel launches, as well as recovery projects on Puget Sound. The shipyard maintains and operates the crane using knowledge gained through years of hands-on learning, under the guidance of crane engineer and operator Eric Rasmussen. The WorkBoat crew never witnessed the crane in action, though one could imagine the experience of hearing the steam-powered machinery chugging along during a vessel launch.
Since relocating its operations into the current facility, Snow & Co. has expanded significantly, growing from 25 employees to 77. The facility includes separate bays for aluminum and steel vessel construction. While Snow noted aluminum work has slowed recently, steel work has surged. The shipyard's production has adapted to the fluctuating demand, with notable steel projects including repowers of small Navy boats and maintenance on Coast Guard-operated vessels. Snow said that the yard’s experienced welders are versatile between metals, switching between aluminum and steel projects as demand dictates.
The final unique project that Snow & Co. is working on is a 25’11” battery powered push tug destined for California. Strategically, at that length, the vessel does not fall under U.S. Coast Guard Subchapter M (Sub M) regulations, thus simplifying the design and certification process. The prototype is being developed as a battery-powered boat. As the technology scales to larger vessels, future iterations will require Sub M compliance with more complex regulations.
