Southwest Marine Wins Leasehold on San Francisco Bay Ship Repair Facility

Southwest Marine Inc. has been awarded leasehold rights to a 26-acre dry dock and ship repair facility on San Francisco Bay by the Port of San Francisco.

Pending approval by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the San Diego-based ship builder and repair company will occupy part of a 50-acre facility once occupied by Todd Shipbuilders Corp. Citing financial problems, Todd has asked for permission from the port to abandon the yard, which is in the China Basin district.

Southwest expects to occupy the site by the end of this year, paying about $1.2 million annually to the port, executive vice president Herb Engel said. His brother, Arthur Engel, is Southwest’s chairman and president.

The property’s two dry docks are large enough to accommodate repairs on virtually any size of ship “except supertankers and aircraft carriers,” Engel said. Southwest expects to use the yard for both Navy and commercial repair contracts.

Southwest will relocate and expand its San Francisco operations to the new site from an existing four-acre yard on the Embarcadero. Upward of 1,000 shipyard workers may someday be employed at the new facility, Engel said.

Southwest now employs 1,900 workers at yards in San Diego, Chula Vista, San Pedro, San Francisco and Samoa and at an 80,000-square-foot repair shop in National City. Company revenues last year topped $100 million, Engel said.

Dorothy Schimke, commercial property manager for the San Francisco port district, said Southwest obtained the 15-year leasehold by winning a bid competition.