June 27, 2017 — Dakota Creek Industries owner Mike Nelson and his staff have been looking for ways to appease federal lawmakers following the mistake the company made in building the $75 million fishing vessel America’s Finest.
The mistake — using too much foreign-formed steel in the vessel’s hull — requires a waiver from the U.S. Congress in order for the ship to fish domestically. The waiver would be for the Jones Act, which requires domestic fishing vessels be built in the U.S.
These days, Nelson glances frequently at his cell phone hoping for good news concerning his company’s lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.
“There could be something new at any moment,” Nelson said.
Dakota Creek has proposed buying a $700,000 cold-forming press machine as one way to make amends for its mistake. That type of machine, which can bend unheated steel, was used overseas to form part of the hull of America’s Finest.
That overseas forming process was what disqualified the vessel from Jones Act certification.
Dakota Creek would give the cold-forming machine to Seattle-based Seaport Steel so that boat builders throughout the region could have access to it, enabling them to build more advanced and more fuel-efficient hulls.
The purchase of the machine could help the embattled shipyard and Fishermen’s Finest, which contracted to have the ship built, get on the good side of lawmakers and the American Maritime Partnership (AMP), a powerful coalition that represents the U.S. maritime industry.