Tuckahoe-built Ferry Outgrows Building; Second Vessel Will Soon Take Shape

Photos by Luis Arroyo.
TUCKAHOE – Yank Marine, the only commercial boat builder in New Jersey has been in business since 1969. When the business opened, Yank Marine built boats with wood. Through the years they shifted to fiberglass. “Now, it’s all aluminum or steel,” said Bette Jean Yank, Owner of Yank Marine, Inc. “Things have changed.”
Another change has been that in addition to doing boat repairs, Yank Marine is now in the business of building ferries. In February, the company began building a ferry for New York Waterways. Under contract to have the ferry completed and ready for delivery March 2015, Yank expects to deliver earlier than that, possibly in January 2015.
On the morning of Aug. 25, the ferry under construction was moved from the building in which it was being built, as it was getting too big.
“The workers were within inches of the beams of the building. So we had to remove the vessel and put it outside in the yard so they can finish it,” Yank said.
The boat is 110 feet long and will carry 400 people (350 seats). The passenger ferry for New York Waterways will run from Belford to Manhattan.
Yank said the Coast Guard does weekly inspections on the firm’s work and will also administer sea trials prior to the official launch.
“We had a little bit of trouble gathering aluminum in the beginning. We had to buy from three different suppliers,” Yank said. “But we managed to get everything we needed. It’s completely plated. We did all the framing and aluminum plating in the building. We went as far as we could go while it was still in the building.”
Now that the building has been vacated of the first ferry, the second one can begin to occupy that space. “We are beginning to cut the frames for the second ferry, and we’re a little ahead of schedule on that one,” Yank said. Yank Marine also has the option to build three more ferries, in addition to the first two.
A representative from Sen. Robert Menendez’s office was present for the ferry moving, as was David Matsuda, director of the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration in 2012 when Yank Marine received a $900,000 shipyard grant (which Yank Marine matched with $800,000 of its own funds) to purchase a 300-ton marine travelift.
The travelift was delivered in 2013 and allowed Yank Marine to lift large aquatic vessels off the ground, thereby enabling the company to obtain the ferry construction project.
The travelift, however, is bigger than the building itself so the ferry had to be pulled out of the building by a trailer before workers could hook it up to the travelift and move the ferry-in-progress to another location in the yard.
“We were really surprised to see him (Matsuda),” Yank said. “It was nice that he took the time and had the interest to see what we did with the grant money.”
Because Yank Marine was able to purchase the travelift and obtain the contract, they employed an additional 25 to work on the ferry construction. “I believe we may even hire more people for the construction of the second ferry,” Yank said.
To contact Bryon Cahill, email bcahill@cmcherald.com.