<p><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Chesapeake-Shipbuilding-graphic-with-American-Star.jpg"><img class="alignleft wp-image-4756" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Chesapeake-Shipbuilding-graphic-with-American-Star-1024x780.jpg" alt="Chesapeake Shipbuilding graphic with American Star" width="642" height="488" /></a></p>
<p>By Ken Rossignol</p>
<p>THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY</p>
<p>SALISBURY, MD. &#8212; Given the huge expanse of the Chesapeake Bay region, with all its mighty tributaries, such as the Magothy, the Patuxent, Potomac and Choptank, it only figures that Maryland is the home of a shipbuilder. The old Davis Shipyard on Solomon’s Island was well-known world-wide for its custom sailing vessels in the last century, as was Trumpy&#8217;s custom yachts in Annapolis and the Liberty ships of Bethlehem Steel during WWII.</p>
<figure id="attachment_4757" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4757" style="width: 420px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Queen-of-the-Mississippi.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-4757" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Queen-of-the-Mississippi.jpg" alt="Queen of the Mississippi" width="420" height="234" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4757" class="wp-caption-text">Queen of the Mississippi</figcaption></figure>
<p>Now the <a href="http://www.chesapeakeshipbuilding.com/index.html" target="_blank"><strong>Chesapeake Shipbuilding Co</strong></a>. has been building various vessels that sail the seas around the world, specializing in ocean-going tugboats, utility vessels, fireboats, ferries and small to medium size passenger cruise ships.</p>
<p>A large commercial tugboat company, Vane Brothers Company, touts its new Sassafras Class Tugs, built by American Shipbuilding, as the newest additions to its fleet. Beginning with the <em>Sassafras </em>the tugs are equipped with twin Caterpillar diesel engines. The Sassafras class tugs, <em>Charles Burton, Elk River, Hunting Creek, Oyster Creek, Quantico Creek</em>, the vessels are ninety feet long and have a beam of thirty-two feet.</p>
<figure id="attachment_4758" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4758" style="width: 401px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Oyster-Creek-launched.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-4758" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Oyster-Creek-launched.jpg" alt="Oyster Creek launched." width="401" height="331" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4758" class="wp-caption-text">Oyster Creek launched.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The large tugs draw thirteen feet of water and accommodates a crew of seven in what the firm refers to as “comfortable accommodations”.</p>
<p>The <em>Oyster Creek</em> was delivered by Chesapeake Shipbuilding in 2011 and is the fifth in the class of tugboats being custom built for Vane Brothers. The tug is described by its owners as being a coast-wise 3,000 horsepower towing vessel and is named for Oyster Creek in Maryland.</p>
<p>Chesapeake Shipbuilding reports that a ninth and tenth of class tugs have been ordered by Vane Brothers.</p>
<p>In addition to building ocean-going tugboats, Chesapeake Shipbuilding has been sending new cruise ships to ply the storied Mississippi River. The firm delivered the <em>Queen of the Mississippi</em> last year and in 2015 will deliver to American Cruise Lines a second brand-spanking new paddlewheeler. Two more in the series are on order. The firm has been conducting sea trials in the Wicomico River after the vessel was launched at its Salisbury shipyard.</p>
<figure id="attachment_4759" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4759" style="width: 432px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Queen-of-Miss-stateroom.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-4759" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Queen-of-Miss-stateroom.jpg" alt="A stateroom on the Queen of the Mississippi." width="432" height="288" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4759" class="wp-caption-text">A stateroom on the Queen of the Mississippi.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The new paddlewheelers have a capacity of 150 passengers. The <em>Queen of the Mississippi</em> is the first new ship built for passenger service on the Mississippi in over twenty years.</p>
<p>The American Cruise Lines has had a series of small cruise ships built by American Shipbuilding including the <em>Independence</em> and the <em>American Star</em>. The <em>Independence</em> was built in 2010 and the <em>American Star</em> in 2007. Special theme cruises such as a Chesapeake Bay Crab Cruise supplement regularly scheduled cruises that take passengers into small ports never visited by large cruise ships.</p>
<figure id="attachment_4637" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4637" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chesapeake-Tales-Scales-Selected-Stories/dp/B00GUA6210/ref=sr_1_16_title_2_audd?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1404448798&;sr=1-16"><img class="wp-image-4637 size-medium" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-Chesapeake-Tales-Scales-3-300x300.jpg" alt="Available in eBook, paperback - two editions, one in full color and the second with B &; W photos and also in Audible." width="300" height="300" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4637" class="wp-caption-text">Available in eBook, paperback &#8211; two editions, one in full color and the second with B &; W photos and also in Audible.</figcaption></figure>
<p>One such cruise stops in Norfolk, Baltimore, Kitty Hawk, Charleston and Myrtle Beach while another takes passengers on a tour of the Great Rivers of Florida. New England ports compose others and the firm also operates on the west coast and Alaska.</p>
<p>Chesapeake Shipbuilding also builds water taxis, custom launches, fire and rescue boats and cruise ship launches. The firm reports that its vessels are U. S. Coast Guard certified and can be built from stock designs or fully customized. The water taxis and launches can also be custom fitted with bow ramps for easy unloading of passengers, which can be quite an advantage for seniors and disabled passengers.</p>
<p>Passenger and vehicle ferries, oil supply boats, restaurant boats and coastal cruise ships are among the firm’s output of new ships.</p>
<p>With more than thirteen acres of land and several new buildings and bulkheaded area, the firm is able to build two hull sections and join them together for launching with the superstructure completed afterwards.</p>
<figure id="attachment_4760" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4760" style="width: 400px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/sassafras5.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-4760" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/sassafras5.jpg" alt="The Sassafras, one of ten new tugs being built for Vane Brothers by Chesapeake Shipbuilding Co. " width="400" height="436" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4760" class="wp-caption-text">The Sassafras, one of ten new tugs being built for Vane Brothers by Chesapeake Shipbuilding Co.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The firm is currently<strong><a href="http://www.chesapeakeshipbuilding.com/employment.html" target="_blank"> advertising </a></strong>for welders, fabricators, ship fitters, marine engineers, mechanics, foremen and ship superintendents and say that they are willing to provide relocation assistance.</p>
<p>For those with a penchant for trips to further ports, two cruise ships operate out of the Port of Baltimore, the Carnival Pride and the <a href="http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?br=R&;shipCode=GR&;shipName=Grandeur+Of+The+Seas++++++++++" target="_blank"><em><strong>Grandeur of The Seas. </strong></em></a> Both operate various itineraries to Bermuda, the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico and Canada from Baltimore.</p>
<p>The <em>American Star</em> is currently in port in Newport, Rhode Island as Hurricane Arthur heads up the coast. <a href="http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-71.33438/centery:41.47769/zoom:8/mmsi:367184740" target="_blank"><strong>Click here</strong> </a>to seek location of this ship.</p>
<figure id="attachment_4761" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4761" style="width: 587px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Chesapeake-Shipbuilding-work-building.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-4761" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Chesapeake-Shipbuilding-work-building.jpg" alt="One of the large worksheds of Chesapeake Shipbuilding at Salisbury, Md. " width="587" height="440" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4761" class="wp-caption-text">One of the large work sheds of Chesapeake Shipbuilding at Salisbury, Md.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_4764" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4764" style="width: 550px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Two-ways-to-cruise-on-Chespeake-Bay.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-4764" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Two-ways-to-cruise-on-Chespeake-Bay-1024x768.jpg" alt="Two of the ways to cruise the Chesapeake Bay, on the American Star shown here from the deck of the Grandeur of The Seas. THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY photo" width="550" height="412" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4764" class="wp-caption-text">Two of the ways to cruise the Chesapeake Bay, on the American Star shown here from the deck of the Grandeur of The Seas. THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY photo</figcaption></figure>
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