The Charleston Branch Pilots have returned the pilot boat Fort Ripley to Gladding-Hearn for a refit and repower after 10 years of continuous service for the port of Charlestown. The all-aluminum vessel will also be fitted with a new Seakeeper 40 gyro stabilizer.
The 65-foot Fort Ripley was designed by Ray Hunt Design and Gladding-Hearn and built by the Somerset, Mass., shipyard in 2014. With a top speed of 28 knots, it was the first commercial vessel in the United States powered by Volvo Penta...