Portland's Ship Repair Business Strengthened With Cascade General Sale
Cascade General, Inc., the only marine repair contractor at the Port of Portland's international shipyard, has been bought and recapitalized by Tore Steen, majority owner of Ponderosa Acquisition Corporation of Portland.
Mr. Steen said the acquisition is designed to improve Cascade General's competitiveness with other West Coast ports for marine repair work for cruise lines, petroleum transporters and operators of other large vessels.
The Port of Portland, which operates the only public shipyard in the U.S., provides a 982-ft. (299 m) long drydock, the largest floating drydock in the Pacific Rim, for ships up to 1,200 ft. (366 m) long. The transaction was financed by Capital Consultants, Inc. of Portland. Terms were not disclosed. Cascade general was acquired from its four shareholders, Steven H. Anderson, Ernest Brawley, Loy Kahler and Surenda Menon, all of whom will remain with the company in managment positions.
The purchase of Cascade General follows the recent closure of the shipyard's other marine contractors, West State, Inc. in October of 1994 and Northwest Marine 1992.
Mr. Steen said that the volume of available marine repair business made it very difficult for multiple companies to compete profitably and survive. The company recently renewed its use agreement with the Port of Portland, and will formally request the Port to grant it a single-operator agreement, allowing it to exclusively provide ship repair services at the Portland ship yard through a long-term lease on the facilities at Swan Island.
Founded in 1904 as Albina Engine and Machine Works, the company operated as Dillingham Ship Repair from 1969 to 1987, when a group of managers and associates bought the company assets and renamed it Cascade General Inc. Today, Cascade General specializes in all phases of ship repair services for oil tankers, general cargo carriers, cruise ships, luxury liners and military vessels. Cascade General has recently completed work on two Holland American Line cruise ships, the Rotterdam and the Westerdam, and is performing work on the ARCO Sag River, an oil tanker. For more information on Cascade General Circle 106 on Reader Service Card
