By Mark Edward Nero
The Port of San Francisco Port Commission and BAE Systems have agreed to a new 20-year lease agreement for maritime ship repair that both sides say is expected to sustain San Francisco’s long tradition of shipbuilding and repair.
BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair currently leases the port’s Pier 70 shipyard and two floating dry docks. At its March 24 meeting, the San Francisco Port Commission unanimously approved a new long-term lease with BAE that, among other things:
• Establishes a 20-year lease term beginning April 1, 2015, with two five-year extension options.
• Institutes a system of rent credits that will incentivize investments in the port-owned equipment and buildings, revitalize these assets, and eliminate or reduce port liability.
• Sets up a shared dredging fund between the port, BAE Systems, and the Army Corps of Engineers, that can deepen the publicly accessible channel at the entrance to the shipyard and lead the way for federal maintenance dredging in the future.
• Sets up an agreement between the port and BAE Systems for pursuing possible funding opportunities for the replacement of the port’s post-Panamax dry dock No. 2.
“We proudly continue one of San Francisco’s oldest maritime traditions, a tradition that has been creating and maintaining quality maritime jobs for more than a century,” Port of SF Executive Director Monique Moyer announced. “This agreement fortifies our alliance to sustain this industry for decades to come.”
The shipyard is located at Pier 70 at the foot of Potrero Hill. Ships have been built and repaired in and around the area for over 150 years.