BELFAST, Maine - A Maine shipyard is working with a Norwegian shipbuilder to manufacture high-speed, carbon-fiber ferries.
Front Street Shipyard President J.B. Turner has signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on a joint venture with a shipyard in Norway that has been building high-speed, carbon-fiber ferries for several years.
Front Street currently employs about 100 people. Turner tells the Portland Press Herald that building ferries could add 50 to 100 jobs.
The ferries Front Street plans to build would be between 100 feet and 130 feet long. The newspaper says the company intends to focus initially on passenger-only ferries that carry up to 150 people, which need to meet less-stringent Coast Guard standards than larger ferries that carry more passengers or cars.