THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995              TAG: 9509010624
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   34 lines

NORSHIPCO JOB EXPECTED TO KEEP WORKERS BUSY UNTIL DEC.

Norshipco has been awarded a $10.9 million contract to outfit a ferry boat used to shuttle cars and passengers between Delaware and New Jersey.

The overhaul contract, awarded by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, will help keep up to 200 workers busy at the Norfolk shipyard until December, said Ernest C. Reilly, the yard's vice president of contract administration.

The vessel, called the Twin Capes, is one of five ferries that ply the waters at the mouth of the Delaware Bay moving cars and people between Cape May, N.J., and Lewes, Del.

The authority is refitting the ferry to expand its passenger capacity, said General Manager Rick Volk. It hopes to boost the Twin Capes passenger capacity to 1,000 from 800 and add nicer amenities including a restaurant, Volk said.

``We're trying to attract more foot passengers,'' Volk said. ``We want it to be more than just a transportation facility.''

Newport News Shipbuilding did the steel work on the ferry, replacing its existing superstructure with an expanded one. That job was worth about $5 million to the giant Peninsula shipyard.

Norshipco will outfit that superstructure - building it out and finishing it. ``It's like decorating the house after the house has been built,'' Reilly said. by CNB