PORT TOWNSEND — Building larger ships is the goal of the California shipping company considering Port Townsend, and other port cities, as a shipyard location.
Santa Maria Shipping LLC of Santa Rosa is looking for a site to build 600-foot cargo container ships.
The operation could employee about 150 people, mostly welders and metal fitters, according to the company.
The large ships would be the second phase of a plan that starts with building a shipyard in Olympia to construct 300-foot cargo ships.
Olympia, the state’s capital, was originally chosen in June for both phases after the company considered several other sites, including Port Angeles, earlier in the year.
Recently, it came to light that the company couldn’t build the larger ships in Olympia, Port of Olympia Marketing Director Kari Qvigstad said Monday.
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The rest of the story is in Tuesday’s Peninsula Daily News.