Local News in Brief : Big Tab to Fix Boats’ Rust

Rust and corrosion that have shown up on the Port of Long Beach’s two fireboats since the first was delivered 17 months ago will cost between $150,000 and $200,000 to fix, according to the chairman of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners.

The official, David L. Hauser, said the port will ask the designers and builders of the 88-foot, $2.2-million boats to make the repairs without cost to the city-owned port.

A recent report found that, although they are relatively new, the two high-technology fireboats, the Challenger and the Liberty, were built “without attention to care, quality control nor attention to specification.”