J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding says it will work for no profit.
The Tacoma shipyard is a subcontractor to Vigor Industrial on its $115 million contract to build Washington a 144-car ferry. It faced a Vigor-imposed deadline of Tuesday to lower its price or be dropped. Vigor said Tuesday it’s reviewing a new counteroffer: Martinac says it would work for the cost of worker time and materials.
“We really won’t make anything on the job,” Martinac vice president Jonathan Platt said. Vigor, he said, “can manage the job. They can do everything. We just wanted to make sure that our people got the work in Pierce County.”
Martinac said it would work for a rate specified by Vigor of $74.25 an hour and an overtime rate less than what Vigor had called for. It says the work would create 100 jobs.
At Vigor, “They’re going to take a look at it and see whether it adds up,” company spokesman Steve Hirsh said.
The company, formerly Todd Pacific, has said it couldn’t accept a Martinac offer to install electrical, heating and cooling systems and do other interior work for $25 million.
Vigor said it could do the work for $15 million at a subsidiary in Everett. Platt, though, said the company misrepresented Martinac’s previous offer. He declined to name Martinac’s true asking price, saying only that it was less than the $25 million described by Vigor. He said Martinac wants to work with the prime contractor, not fight.
The back-and-forth comes after state lawmakers from Pierce County wrote to Gov. Chris Gregoire asking her to intervene on behalf of Martinac. Gregoire brokered a 2007 deal that led to Todd Pacific leading a group of companies making a joint bid on the 144-car ferries.
Jordan Schrader: 360-786-1826 jordan.schrader@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/politics Twitter: @Jordan_Schrader
