EAST BOOTHBAY (AP) – The hole left when a 154-foot boat sails out of a shipyard is more than just the space it once occupied, as Hodgdon Yachts learned when the ketch Scheherazade floated away in 2003.

The super yacht was, at the time, the largest of its kind under construction in the Western Hemisphere. It took four years and more than $20 million to build.

When it sailed, skilled hands that normally held chisels and hammers were idle.

To keep Hodgdon’s employees going, the yard looked to diversify and found a line of work that holds great potential for Maine’s economy.

“Jobs. It’s all about jobs,” said Timothy Hodgdon, owner of the company that employs 80 people. “It’s all about a healthy manufacturing industry in the state.”

Hodgdon sought subcontractor work with larger Navy-focused shipyards looking to explore composites materials that can be engineered for strength.

Now, the company is a contender to build the next generation of Mark-class Navy ships and has been seriously considered by a Connecticut casino to build a fleet of high-speed ferries.

The hope is to build an industry in Maine aimed at making high-speed composite boats for a variety of markets.

“I think the impact and the potential for a project like this is important to the whole coast of Maine,” said Timothy Hodgdon, owner of the company that employs 80 people. “We’d hate to see a project like this fail. It’d be a crime.”

But breaking into a Navy shipbuilding program is hard.

The Navy traditionally hasn’t been a fan of composites, preferring traditional metal hulls. But it has begun looking in the high-tech direction.

In late 2002, Hodgdon learned that the Navy was considering ordering a new design and construction of a new generation of boat to replace the 82-foot Mark V, which is used to transport Navy SEALS.

That timing was perfect for Hodgdon, which has a reputation for building world-class yachts but hadn’t built Navy vessels since it built minesweepers and subchasers during World War II and the Korean War.

Hodgdon scouted for production locations along the Maine coast, from the Penobscot River to Kennebunk, for a building that could be used to build Mark VIs.

The company also has begun refurbishing a building next to the main yard and plans to invest about $100,000 in composites equipment to make a Mark-class prototype.

Still, Winslow Wheeler, an analyst with the Washington-based Center for Defense Information, said “it’s going to be hell” for the shipyard.

Wheeler said the Mark V is made by a Mississippi shipyard, VT Halter Marine Inc., and any work going there will be politically protected by that state’s congressional delegation.

But Hodgdon has the backing of Maine’s congressional delegation, which secured $1 million in the federal budget for the project in 2004 and $4 million in 2005.

There’s a request in for $6 million for 2006.

The state has also provided about $310,000 to the overall initiative through the Maine Technology Institute.

“The more we advance this, the more expertise we bring into the state, and the better off we’re all going to be,” said Stephen Von Vogt, president of Maine Marine Manufacturing, or M3. “Realistically, we could make this happen.”

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