Point Shipyard

After initial success in converting from new construction to repairs, Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point shipyard has suffered through a sharp decline in its business in the last few months that has forced the company to lay off most of its workers.Just a year ago the shipyard was enjoying more ship repair business than it could handle and was trying to expand its work force. In a May 25, 1990, letter meant to persuade former Sparrows Point workers to return to the yard, General Manager David Watson wrote, "Our transition to primarily a repair and conversion yard is proving successful: We have 5 ships in the yard now and are busily booking more to replace them as they are completed.

The owners of the Sparrows Point shipyard have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the present and former owners of the old Bethlehem Steel mill on the Patapsco River peninsula of contaminating the dock and ship repair facility with cancer-causing benzene and other hazardous chemicals. SPS Limited Partnership and SPS 35, a limited liability corporation, are demanding cleanup and compensation for their own cleanup costs from Severstal North America, the 120-year-old steel mill's current owner, and from Arcelormittal USA, which owned the mill from 2005 until 2008.

Racketeering claims filed The Massachusetts owner of a Sparrows Point shipyard and certain affiliates were given two weeks to answer racketeering claims filed against them two weeks ago in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. If they don't, the defendants face a default judgment of up to $2.25 million, according to court documents. Jobless rate rises in Md. Unemployment in Maryland rose and job growth slowed last month as national economic troubles touched off by the slumping housing market continued to take a toll.

Racketeering claims filed The Massachusetts owner of a Sparrows Point shipyard and certain affiliates were given two weeks to answer racketeering claims filed against them two weeks ago in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. If they don't, the defendants face a default judgment of up to $2.25 million, according to court documents. Jobless rate rises in Md. Unemployment in Maryland rose and job growth slowed last month as national economic troubles touched off by the slumping housing market continued to take a toll.

Baltimore Marine Industries Inc., the Sparrows Point shipyard that filed for bankruptcy protection last month, received court permission yesterday to operate for another week, and is putting together a plan to stay open through Oct. 31 as it continues to seek a buyer or a refinancing deal. Judge James F. Schneider gave permission for BMI to use $166,961 of its cash next week to cover payroll for 12 employees, employee insurance, security guard services, maintenance, legal fees and other general expenses.

Contracts to build tunnel sections for a highway beneath Boston Harbor and to refurbish a Navy dry-dock have boosted employment at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point shipyard to its highest level in nearly four years.The BethShip yard is hiring welders, shipfitters, pipefitters, crane operators, riggers, machinists and caulkers to fill the orders. Fewer than 100 workers remain on layoff, and they are expected to be recalled in the next several weeks as employment reaches a peak of about 1,200 hourly workers.

Whispering Willie taught his boy to tie a Turk's head and a monkey's fist when the kid was barely 7. Difficult knots for a child, they are basics along the working waterfront, the sort of thing passed down in shipyard families.In a city that once manufactured everything from brooms to tin cans, no industry defined Baltimore as much as the building of great ships."It was in my blood, I used the tools my father used," says Al Phillips, who followed his father into the riggers' trade at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point shipyard in 1967.

As president of BethShip Inc., Dave Watson saw two deals to sell the Bethlehem Steel Corp. Sparrows Point shipyard fall apart. Twice, when those deals died, his bosses said they would close the 107-year-old yard.Still, Watson, a Scottish-born engineer who has worked 32 years at the yard, never doubted its survival. "You just had to look at the numbers and see that this business was too strong," he said.For more than a year, Watson, 60, was the guy looking under the hood, telling prospective buyers what he thought of the yard's capabilities.

Workers at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point shipyard ratified a three-year contract yesterday, overwhelmingly approving a proposal that supporters say will allow the company to bid on new work and keep the yard open.A proposal that would improve pension benefits without a pay raise was backed by 245 workers, while 78 workers supported an alternative contract that would have provided a 20-cent increase in July to the current $13.47 hourly wage.Both proposals were rejected by 183 workers, said Lonnie Vick, financial officer for Local Lodge S33 of the Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America/International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Union workers at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point shipyard will vote again today on contract changes that management says are crucial to the future of the BethShip yard.Bethlehem Steel executives will not make final bids on five key ship-repair or reconstruction jobs -- worth a total of $172 million -- without a new agreement with the union, said Bethlehem Steel spokesman Ted Baldwin.Two union contract proposals have been rejected by Local Lodge S-33 of the Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America/International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

A man wanted in the attempted robbery of a grocery store that led to the death of one suspect and the shooting of a Baltimore County police officer was arrested yesterday, police said. Andrew D. Cawthorne, 32, of no known address was arrested yesterday morning by city police after a tip led authorities to a house in the 2400 block of N. Calvert St., county police said. About 9:30 a.m. officers went to the house and found Cawthorne inside, where he was arrested without incident, county police said.

The buyers of the defunct Sparrows Point shipyard plan to redevelop the 250-acre facility at Baltimore County's southeast corner into a vast industrial park, leasing space to barge building and ship repair companies as well as other businesses. Barletta Willis Investments, a partnership between Vincent Barletta, the president of Boston-based heavy construction firm The Barletta Co. and Boston venture capitalist Robert Willis, 35, is set to close on the $9.75 million deal this week to buy the sprawling shipyard, operated at its peak by Bethlehem Steel Corp.

A Boston investment group plans to revive the defunct Baltimore Marine Industries Inc. shipyard in Sparrows Point, creating up to 1,500 jobs over the next three years and using the 250-acre waterfront facility to its full capacity to build barges and repair and build light ships. Robert Willis, a principal with Barletta Willis LLC , said the new owner plans to restart operations at the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard by April, employing 300 to 500 workers in the first year alone. It expects to begin with work on barges.

Baltimore Marine Industries Inc., the Sparrows Point shipyard that filed for bankruptcy protection last month, received court permission yesterday to operate for another week, and is putting together a plan to stay open through Oct. 31 as it continues to seek a buyer or a refinancing deal. Judge James F. Schneider gave permission for BMI to use $166,961 of its cash next week to cover payroll for 12 employees, employee insurance, security guard services, maintenance, legal fees and other general expenses.

Michael C. Darcy has a grand and complicated plan for restoring the glory to Baltimore's doddering old shipyard in Sparrows Point. He has persuaded the former yard of Bethlehem Steel to retool its entire business and dedicate six full years to building cruise ships. He has some of the best engines, thrusters and naval architects in the world lined up and a powerful maritime union lobbying for him in Washington. What Darcy doesn't have is the $1.64 billion he needs, or the congressional blessing he wants, or any history of closing deals this immensely complex.

Bethlehem Steel Corp. said yesterday that its second-quarter profit fell 76 percent, a decline resulting from one-time events that disguised an otherwise strong quarter, analysts said.The Pennsylvania-based steel company reported net income of $38 million, down from $160 million in the second quarter of 1997. Net income per share after deducting preferred dividends was 23 cents, down about 83 percent from $1.33.Sales were $1.19 billion, down 1.7 percent from $1.21 billion.Accounting for the steep decline in profit were a $35 million second-quarter charge to close the Sparrows Point plate mill in the fourth quarter, a move that stemmed from the May acquisition of Coatesville, Pa.-based Lukens Inc.; and a gain in the year-earlier quarter of $135 million from Bethlehem's sale of its Iron Ore Co. of Canada.

A man wanted in the attempted robbery of a grocery store that led to the death of one suspect and the shooting of a Baltimore County police officer was arrested yesterday, police said. Andrew D. Cawthorne, 32, of no known address was arrested yesterday morning by city police after a tip led authorities to a house in the 2400 block of N. Calvert St., county police said. About 9:30 a.m. officers went to the house and found Cawthorne inside, where he was arrested without incident, county police said.

Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s continuing $550 million expansion and renovation moves have collided head-on with a sickly economy, slumping steel prices and higher production costs, producing a 78 percent drop in third-quarter net income, the company announced yesterday.Bethlehem's earnings of $10 million for the period that ended Sept. 30 fell markedly short of the $47 million in profits posted in the same quarter a year ago, but the company had expected the decline."I was expecting just a very, very modest profit, and that's pretty much what we got," said Anderson & Strudwick analyst Michael Via, who pointed to the slowing economy as the prime culprit behind rising costs and weak earnings.

As president of BethShip Inc., Dave Watson saw two deals to sell the Bethlehem Steel Corp. Sparrows Point shipyard fall apart. Twice, when those deals died, his bosses said they would close the 107-year-old yard.Still, Watson, a Scottish-born engineer who has worked 32 years at the yard, never doubted its survival. "You just had to look at the numbers and see that this business was too strong," he said.For more than a year, Watson, 60, was the guy looking under the hood, telling prospective buyers what he thought of the yard's capabilities.

Hoping for the best and fearing the worst if they refused, workers at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point shipyard yesterday approved a labor deal with a group led by Peter G. Angelos that calls for small concessions, paving the way for the Orioles' owner to buy the yard for $26 million.By a 425-83 vote, workers approved a six-year plan that would give them a nickel-an-hour raise and a significantly better pension plan beginning this year, in exchange for reductions in holiday pay, shift differentials, overtime pay and extra pay for workers who have special skills.