Austal Usa News

SSI, a leader delivering software, services, and expertise for the business of shipbuilding, announced that Austal USA, a partner since 2005, will use its ShipbuildingPLM product lifecycle management (PLM) solution to further expand its digital transformation.This decision reflects Austal USA’s pursuit of innovation and operational excellence in shipbuilding, showing how a shipbuilding-specific digital platform can accelerate production, reduce risk, and create a single source of truth across complex programs.By leveraging ShipbuildingPLM…

The Coast Guard authenticated the keel for the future Coast Guard Cutter Pickering during a ceremony Monday in Mobile, Alabama. Keel authentication is a time-honored shipbuilding tradition marking the formal start of a vessel’s construction. During the ceremony, the sponsor’s initials are applied to a ceremonial keel plate that will be installed on the cutter, symbolically indicating the keel is “truly and fairly laid.” Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, attended the event along with Rep.

Facility will include 150,000 square feet of covered manufacturing space optimized for serial productionNew yard will support 200 new jobs and expands shipbuilding capacity Master Boat Builders announced plans to build a new $60 million, 150,000 sq ft manufacturing facility dedicated exclusively to government and defense shipbuilding programs. The new 20-acre site is located directly across Bayou Coden from the company’s existing yard.“This new facility is about building more capability here at home,” said Garrett Rice, President, Master Boat Builders.

Expansion into Harbor Tug sector helps Master Boat Builders nearly double in size, from 200 to 400 employees building eight to nine vessels per year, and the prospect of a new drydock plus additional partnerships and government construction contracts promises to power the company forward further, faster. Garrett Rice, President, Master Boat Builders, discussed the impetus for the company’s growth, and the growth in U.S. shipbuilding overall since the start of 2025 when President…

Master Boat Builders, Inc. announced it has taken delivery of a new floating dry dock, giving the company direct control over launch schedules and accelerating vessel deliveries.Designed and built by Conrad Shipyard, the dry dock measures 155’ long x 66’ wide with 41’ tall wing walls, features a 2,000‑ton lifting capacity, and incorporates a barge bow to enable efficient towing. Master Boat will use the dock to launch recently constructed vessels. Previously, Master Boat rolled…

Saildrone Founder and CEO Richard Jenkins shares news on Lockheed Martin's recent investment in Saildrone:Today, I am delighted to announce a $50 million investment from Lockheed Martin in Saildrone, Inc. This commercial relationship marries the world’s most sophisticated and trusted defense technology with the world’s most capable and operationally proven USV technology. Together, we will rapidly equip Saildrone USVs with all-domain defense technology for lethal military applications.

Davie Defense Inc. gives a first glimpse today of the “American Icebreaker Factory” – a planned $1 billion transformation of the historic Gulf Copper shipyard in Galveston, Texas.The American Icebreaker Factory concept was created in collaboration with Florida-based Pearlson, which has led major projects for leading American shipbuilders, including BAE Systems, Austal USA and Fincantieri Marinette.The American Icebreaker Factory project embodies the Trump Administration’s priorities…

Austal USA and Master Boat Builders, Inc. entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing a strategic outsourcing partnership designed to expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity by increasing the ability of regional shipyards to take on large, complex programs for the U.S. government.The companies will collaborate on current programs under contract to Austal USA as well as collaborating on future efforts, enabling greater flexibility to meet evolving fleet requirements, aiming to reduce bottlenecks, shorten production schedules, and create surge capacity for future demand.

The military and Coast Guard budgets are established that will benefit the U.S. ship building and repair sector, but what will stimulate the commercial yards?This author has been scratching his head of late, after a thrilling dive into July’s U.S. Big Beautiful Bill Act, and has asked several colleagues where the funding for support commercial shipbuilding can be found? To answer that, we need to look elsewhere and to future programs.Setting the SceneMany column inches have been dedicated to the decline U.S. shipbuilding, whether signaled by the relatively small presence of a U.S.

For the U.S. Navy, boats perform missions from mundane maintenance chores such as hull scraping and cleaning overboard discharges to clandestine special forces insertion and extraction. Some boats are about as basic as you can imagine, and some are equipped with sophisticated combat systems and weapons. Big or small, they all perform indispensable tasks for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.Boats that are carried on and launched from ships are referred to as “shipboard boats,” to distinguish them from boats based at installations ashore.

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), the national association representing the U.S. shipbuilding, maintenance, and repair industry, announced its annual member safety awards for the 2024 calendar year. This year, 14 shipyards are receiving awards for their achievements in safety. The shipbuilding industry continues to improve on safety metrics year after year. This commitment to safety has allowed U.S. shipyards to address and adapt their continuing operations to any obstacles that arose throughout the year.To qualify for an SCA Safety Award…

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), a portfolio company of Arcline Investment Management (Arcline), has received POs from Austal USA to provide critical equipment for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation TAGOS-25 program.Through Fairbanks Morse Defense businesses American Fan, Federal Equipment Company (FEC), Maxim Watermakers, and Welin Lambie, the defense supplier will deliver and install fundamental systems for TAGOS-25’s oceanic surveillance ships.The TAGOS-25 ocean surveillance ships are designed to support U.S.

Each year, as we prepare for the largest U.S. based maritime industry conference in New Orleans, we tend to look back on the state of the industry and initiatives that were announced from the conference that took place the year before. 2023 provided us with plenty to talk about. In September of 2023, while the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the global shipbuilding industry were fixated on “emissions” and alternative fuels, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro held the opening meeting of the Government Shipbuilders Council.

Austal USA Advanced Technologies (Austal USA AT) has purchased a WarpSPEE3D printer and is currently spearheading an effort to revolutionize the US Navy's supply chain by implementing additive manufacturing.Austal USA AT oversees and operates the Navy's Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Danville, VA – the US Navy's flagship center for additive manufacturing supporting the construction and sustainment of the fleet. SPEE3D's proprietary Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing…

**Austal USA Breaks Ground on New Submarine Module Facility in Mobile, Alabama**Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA announced the commencement of construction on a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility dedicated to submarine modules, known as MMF3. Set to be operational by late 2026, this new building will significantly enhance the company’s capacity to support the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base (SIB).The facility will span 369,600 square feet and is specifically designed for the manufacturing of submarine modules.

The U.S. Navy announced it has accepted delivery of the second-to-last Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the future USS Beloit (LCS 29), from Lockheed Martin at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wis, on September 30.The 15th Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship and the 29th in the LCS class, Beloit is the first Navy warship named in honor of the city of Beloit, Wis.“Beloit is another shining example of what it means to finish strong,” said Capt. Matthew Lehmann, program manager of the Littoral Combat Ship program office.

Austal USA has been awarded a $450 million contract by General Dynamics Electric Boat to expand production capacity at its Mobile, Ala. shipyard in support of the U.S. Navy submarine industrial base (SIB).In 2022, Austal USA and Electric Boat, supported by the U.S. Navy, formed a strategic partnership to expand the production capacity of the SIB. As part of the partnership, Austal USA is constructing and outfitting Command and Control Systems Modules (CCSM) and Electronic Deck…

Austal USA has officially launched the construction of the U.S. Navy’s final Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), the future USNS Lansing (EPF 16), with a keel laying ceremony at its Mobile, Ala. shipyard. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is serving as the ship’s sponsor, and Emija Coleman, a seasoned welder with nine years of experience at Austal USA, played key roles in the ceremony. Governor Whitmer, along with Coleman, authenticated the keel by welding her initials into a keel plate that will be permanently affixed to the hull of the USNS Lansing.At Austal USA…

Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA launched USNS Point Loma (EPF 15), the U.S. Navy’s 15th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF).The ship was christened in the beginning of August and is now docked pier side for final outfitting and system activation in preparation for sea trials later this year.During the launch process, self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) lifted the ship almost three feet and moved it approximately 400 feet onto a deck barge moored adjacent to the final assembly bay.

Austal USA held a ceremony marking the official start of construction on the first U.S. Coast Guard Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) to be built at its Mobile, Ala., shipyard. The vessel, named Pickering (WSMM 919), is the lead vessel in a series potentially comprising up to 11 cutters under a contract valued at $3.3 billion.Designed at 360 feet in length, the OPC program is set to replace the Coast Guard's aging medium endurance cutters, filling a crucial role between the open-ocean national security cutters and the coastal fast response cutters.

Austal USA LLC has pled guilty and has agreed to pay $24 million to resolve an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department related to an accounting fraud scheme and efforts to obstruct the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) during a financial capability audit.The Justice Department’s criminal resolution was coordinated with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Separately, Austal USA also entered into a False Claims Act settlement with the department’s Civil Division to resolve claims that it knowingly provided non-compliant parts to the U.S. Navy.

The U.S. Navy commissioned Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Kingsville (LCS 36) at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center, on August 24.Kingsville, the 18th Independence-variant LCS, is the first to bear this name and pays homage to the city of Kingsville and the King Ranch. The ship’s sponsor is a member of the sixth generation of the King Ranch family, descendants of steamboat captain Richard King who founded in the King Ranch in Kingsville in 1853. The King Ranch continues…

A ceremony was held on Saturday to mark the christening of the future USNS Point Loma (EPF 15), one of 16 expeditionary fast transports (EPF) the U.S. Navy has contracted Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA to build.EPF Flight II provides a Role 2E (enhanced) medical capability which includes, among other capabilities, basic secondary health care built around primary surgery; intensive care unit; ward beds; and limited x-ray, laboratory and dental support. The EPF’s catamaran…