$1.3 million. The amount of money the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s Maritime Administration awarded to Stevens Towing Company — a family-owned freight transportation business based on Yonges Island, SC — just south of Charleston.
The grant is giving the company a boost with becoming a zero-emissions shipyard — meaning, not polluting the environment or disrupting the climate.
The business — which started in 1913 with 1 boat — is 1 of 31 shipyards in the nation receiving a total of $19.6 million in modernization funding, basically money to increase productivity + expand local employment.
Stevens Towing plans to put its grant money towards the purchase of a 820-metric ton travel lift, which will help maintain the shipyard.
The administration’s Small Shipyard Grant Program is providing these funds to shipyards in 15 states in the country.