Eastern Shipbuilding expands

PORT ST. JOE, Fla. -- Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City will lease 20 acres at a Port of St. Joe paper mill site to expand its shipbuilding and repair business. The announcement comes less than a month after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the St. Joe Co. and the Port of Port St. Joe Port Authority to develop and market the port. St. Joe’s former paper mill site is some 180 acres. The mill site is also adjacent to a turning basin and navigational channel. St. Joe also owns about 4,700 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the site. ESG is currently in the process of filling 500 new positions needed to meet its current and future contracts for vessel manufacturing. (Source: The Star, Panama City News Herald, 02/21/12)