BREAKING: Ketchikan shipyard acquired by Pacific Northwest firm

Alaska Ship and Drydock, a Ketchikan-based company that operates the state-owned Ketchikan Shipyard, will be purchased by Vigor Industrial, a Pacific Northwest firm with shipyards in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Bremerton and Port Angeles.

The company will continue to work toward the full development of the Ketchikan Shipyard with its owner, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. The announcement was made Feb. 7.

State Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, announced the deal at a Tuesday briefing by the leadership of the state Senate. Stedman represents Ketchikan.

"This will give AS&D access to capital and put the yard in a better position to go after large ship repair and building projects," Stedman said. "We have decades of potential work in shipbuilding in front of us, with the build-out of the offshore fishing fleet, construction of the new Alaska-class state ferries and the possibility of doing maintenance and service on vessels that will be involved in Arctic offshore oil and gas exploration.