The San Francisco Port Commission has executed a new 20-year lease agreement with BAE Systems for maritime ship repair that will sustain San Francisco’s 150-year tradition of shipbuilding and repair. The agreement includes a provision that could extend shipyard operations through 2045.
BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair currently leases the Port’s Pier 70 shipyard and two floating drydocks under a 30-year lease, set to expire in December 2017. According to the port, the shipyard has made a successful transition over the past 20 years, since the Bay Area military base closures in the early 1990s, to being competitive in the commercial ship repair markets.
San Francisco’s most marketable features in the ship repair business are its two floating drydocks and its central-coast location, which makes it ideal for both northbound and southbound migratory cruise and tanker fleets.