JAG Ketchikan, which has been operating the state-owned Ketchikan Shipyard since last September, has secured a nearly $100 million contract for a service-life extension of a federal research vessel.

The $99.6 million contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for its Rhode Island-based fisheries survey ship Henry B. Bigelow has a start time of this summer for procurement of long lead-time materials and an estimated completion date of April 2029, according to information from NOAA and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority that owns the Ketchikan Shipyard.

The ship, which was commissioned in 2007 at a Mississippi shipyard, is 208 feet long and can conduct acoustic and trawl surveys.

The project adds to NOAA’s work for the Ketchikan yard, which already had four NOAA projects scheduled as of last October. That included a $95 million mid-life renovation project for NOAA’s Kodiak-based ship Oscar Dyson.

JAG Marine Group President Doug Huff said the company is “encouraged by the continued faith” that NOAA has placed in the company.

NOAA’s solicitation for proposals for the Henry B. Bigelow project was issued in January. The solicitation included an extensive list of work items, such as vessel repowering, structural repairs to the hull and house, and replacing the propeller blades and hub, in addition to a wide variety of inspection, maintenance and other overhaul tasks.

JAG Alaska, another subsidiary of the Michigan-based JMG, has operated the Seward Shipyard since 2018. It took over the Ketchikan yard after the state decided not to renew its operating agreement with Vigor, a Pacific Northwest company, which had run the yard since 2012.

In addition to its Ketchikan and Seward yards, JAG is working with the Wrangell borough to determine the economic feasibility of building a new shipyard at the site of the former 6-Mile Mill, which the borough is developing as a deepwater industrial port.

The company and the borough split the cost of a feasibility study ($550,000 from the borough and $200,000 from JAG), with the report expected this month.

Borough Manager Mason Villarma reported last week that company representatives and others are expected in Wrangell on July 13 to tour the property and discuss the feasibility report with borough officials.