Tenant Spotlight: Blue Atlantic Fabricators
Fabricating steel projects for Boston, in Boston, by Boston.
A local shipyard tenant is constructing marine infrastructure right on the water.
Michael Julian is the general manager at Blue Atlantic Fabricators and oversees the day-to-day operations. He has been with Blue Atlantic since 2018, but has actually worked in the shipyard since 1993. Blue Atlantic concentrates on fabrication, including marine construction and marine steel projects.
Blue Atlantic Fabricators is Quality Certified by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), and holds a number of certifications including Bridge Fabrication – Intermediate. They are the only entity in Massachusetts to hold this certification and one of the few in the country that is located directly on the water.
The waterfront access within a Designated Port Area is incredibly advantageous for Blue Atlantic. “There is no other fabricator that can build these sized structures and ship it right on the water,” says Julian. Blue Atlantic tries to ship by water as much as possible, not only is it more suitable for the large structures, but Julian says “we want to limit our truck traffic” as well.
Julian has noticed a push for “higher education and going to college, but that is not for everyone.” Blue Atlantic offers a “high paying career with benefits and training” that can be “very rewarding,” says Julian. They frequent job fairs at local trade schools and have worked with State Representative Adrian Madaro to recruit local talent. Their staff in East Boston amounts to around 30 employees, between fabricators, welders, painters, tradesmen, as well as office staff, project managers, and accountants.
One member of the Blue Atlantic team came on board when he could not go to school at the tail end of his senior year due to the pandemic. Blue Atlantic offered him the opportunity to come work for them in the meantime and he ended up sticking with it and earned his certification at only 18 years old.
When travelling around Boston, you may encounter Blue Atlantic projects without even realizing it. They have collaborated with the MBTA on multiple projects, including a charging port in Cambridge bus stations to be able to service electric buses. The courthouse station of the MBTA Silver Line has a new elevator platform and escalator entrance built by Blue Atlantic. They’ve also aided the MBTA with track work and repairing bridges, including near Fenway Park, “the bridge that goes over the highway” has been worked on by Blue Atlantic to become bridge certified.
Blue Atlantic’s customers are not limited to just Boston, though. They recently built and launched four buoyancy tanks to be sent to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. These tanks weigh 80,000 pounds each and will be used as part of a dry dock replacement for a new class of submarines. They were built at the Blue Atlantic shop at Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina and floated up the coast to Maine.
Julian and the Blue Atlantic team recently guided a group of Tufts students in the AISC Steel Bridge Competition. This is an annual competition among college students; Blue Atlantic has previously worked with Wentworth and Tufts students in their submissions. The objective is to “design, engineer, and fabricate a scale size bridge” which will then be competed on local, regional, and national levels based on the students’ success. The recent Tufts team was able to go to San Francisco to compete on the national level. They are judged on “strength, aesthetics, and the speed it takes to build [the bridge].”
Learn more about Blue Atlantic Fabricators by visiting their website.
Buoyancy Tanks by Blue Atlantic Fabricators
