Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company

Although the name has changed many times, there has been a shipyard of some kind at this location since 1918. In 1968, the shipyard officially became the Bay Shipbuilding Company after several other adjoining shipyards were merged together. Over the seventies, the company went on to build 30 ships for the great lakes. An additional six 1000 foot ships were built capable of hauling 40,000 tons ore.  At its height, the company employed over two thousand people.

By the 80’s and 90’s the heyday of building new freighters had subsided and the shipbuilding company focused largely on repair and maintenance of ships and building of large barges and other specialized transportation containers including double hulled barges for hauling fuel and other uses.  

By 2008, the shipyard was sold to an Italian firm called the Fincantieri Marine Group who spent millions of dollars on improvements to the yard then, and then again in 2015. In fact, the size of the shipyard has greatly increased in the last 20 years, even absorbing some of what used to be city streets and another neighboring shipbuilding company that went out of business in 2015.

After the big Fincantieri makeover, this shipyard built and launched the 639 foot Mark V. Barker which represented the first lake freighter built in Sturgeon Bay since 1987 and the first U.S. shipyard to launch a new lake freighter in 40 years. The Mark Barker left Sturgeon Bay and was officially christened in Cleveland Ohio by its new owners in July of 2022.

Most recently, the shipyard has earned a navy contract and two navy frigates are currently being built at the other end of their campus in a very large building.  I will point them out in a few minutes. 

Right now.  Continue down this street and stay to the left in the gravel area and you will come to a nice spot to turn around that is next to the end of the dry dock and alongside the boat dock.  Drive to the water's edge, what a view of the canal!  Turn around and I’ll point out a few things up the street as we head towards downtown.