Breaks Ground News

Schottel has marked the symbolic start of construction for the expansion of its rudder propeller factory in Dörth, with the construction already advancing towards the planned commissioning in 2025.Schottel is expanding its rudder propeller factory by adding a logistics center measuring around 4,000 m2.As the official ground-breaking ceremony was delayed, it has now taken place symbolically against the backdrop of the shell construction that has already begun.The total investment volume amounts to €9.5 million…

TDI-Brooks announced it has broken ground on a new 16,000 square foot technical building at its headquarters in College Station, Texas, north of of Houston.The building is designed with 5,000 square feet of new office space along with technical work spaces, fabrication shops and storage areas. TDI-technical staff plan to move into the building by the end of the year.“This new location will not only allow for the growth of staff we’ve employed to keep up with the growing demand for our technical services in offshore wind…

Crowley and the Port of San Diego broke ground for the shoreside charging station designed to provide clean energy for the company’s forth-coming zero-emissions tugboat, eWolf.The charging station is a microgrid charging facility that will allow vessels to recharge quickly while reducing peak loads on the community energy grid. It is equipped with two containerized energy storage systems provided by Corvus Energy. The station is designed to operate on off-peak hours from the community’s energy grid, and it includes a solar power array to support renewable energy use.

Ørsted broke ground on Europe’s largest e-methanol project, FlagshipONE, on May 24.FlagshipONE will start production in 2025 and will produce 50,000 tonnes of e-methanol annually. The maritime sector is a key target for the methanol. Currently, over 110 e-methanol vessels have been ordered or are in operation, up from 80 vessels at the end of 2022.Originally developed by the Swedish e-fuels company Liquid Wind, FlagshipONE will be located next to Övik Energi’s combined heat and power plant Hörneborgsverket in Örnsköldsvik…

BAE Systems held a groundbreaking ceremony officially kicking off a program to upgrade its ship repair facility in Jacksonville, Fla.As part of the $200 million modernization, the company will add a Pearlson Shiplift and land-level repair complex that will boost flexibility and expand the shipyard’s docking capacity by 300%. Located two miles from the Atlantic Ocean, at the intersection of the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair provides repair…

Global all-domain defense partner HII recently broke ground on a new project that will support nuclear submarine construction at its Newport News Shipbuilding division.The Multi-Class Submarine Production Facility is one of three new facilities, enabling NNS to further support the construction and delivery of Columbia- and Virginia-class submarines.“The Navy has made it clear how important both the Columbia- and Virginia-class submarine programs are to our nation’s defense,” said Brandi Smith, NNS vice president of Columbia-class submarine construction.

GEA marked the official start of construction of its new repair, logistics, assembly, production and training facility in Janesville, Wis. The groundbreaking ceremony of GEA’s first greenfield site in North America in 50 years was attended by company representatives and officials from the State of Wisconsin and City of Janesville.GEA will invest more than $20 million in the new site in response to growing demand for separators, decanters, valves, pumps and homogenizers which are at the heart of many industrial production processes.The 85…

Great Lakes shipbuilding and repair yard Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding broke ground on a new 19,000 sq. ft. machine shop at its Sturgeon Bay, Wis. location on Friday.Inside the future 300-ft. long building, shipbuilders will have access to two overhead cranes capable of lifting 5 and 30 tons, respectively. At the other end of the building there will be offices, restrooms, a lunchroom and a tool room. The facility will primarily support Bay’s repair business.Planning started nine months ago for the new building, which long-time construction partner A.C.E.

Electric drives manufacturer  announced it has broken ground on its new headquarters and production facilities in the Munich metro area on Wednesday.Construction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, and the site will consist of 3,720 square meters of office space, with a mix of co-working spaces and on-site offices, 4,800 square meters of warehouse, production, and research and development area.Dr. Ralf Plieninger, managing director of Torqeedo, said, "The new facilities will allow direct contact and exchange between various departments.

Austal USA broke ground on its steel manufacturing line Friday, March 26, 2021, positioning the company to start steel production in April 2022.“This world-class steel manufacturing line is a treasure for the Gulf Coast, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard that will provide a much needed boost to the defense industrial base and our Nation’s defense,” said Jerry Carl, Congressman for Alabama’s first district.“As demand for the greater and larger Navy and Coast Guard fleets grows, Austal USA is investing to meet those changing requirements,” Rusty Murdaugh, interim president said.

Plans to convert the century-old Port of Fort Pierce into a repair and refit facility for the global fleet of megayachts and large sailing yachts are moving full speed ahead.After a lengthy permitting and review process, Derecktor Shipyards has been granted approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners and the City of Fort Pierce to begin construction of its newest shipyard – Derecktor Ft.

Construction of Taiwan's Formosa 2, an offshore wind power (OWP) development project, officially broke ground in Miaoli County.Orsted Taiwan said in a statement that it held a ground-breaking ceremony for the onshore substation works for the 900MW Greater Changhua 1&2a offshore wind farm off Taiwan.Ørsted awarded an onshore substation EPC contract to TCC last November. TCC will build two onshore substations, cable corridors, and transition joint bays for the first 900MW Greater Changhua projects. The contract, with an amount over NTD 7bn, is being now executed by Star Energy Corporation (SEC), a 100% subsidiary of TCC.SEC has hired more than 60 additional employees since last year.

Twin Disc, Inc. broke ground recently on its new operations facility in Lufkin, Texas, scheduled to open in January 2020.The new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will focus on producing power take-offs and clutches for heavy duty industrial equipment. The main purpose of the facility is to assemble the company's complete industrial product line and to be a distribution center for all new products coming from European operations to the United States."We've seen tremendous growth in our business across all markets…

The Georgia Ports Authority broke ground on its $126.7 million Mason Mega Rail Terminal Monday. The expansion will increase the Port of Savannah's rail lift capacity to 1 million containers per year, and open new markets spanning an arc of cities from Memphis to St. Louis, Chicago to Cincinnati. "Today is a great day for Georgia and the nation," said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. The Mega Rail ground breaking is the latest in a series of Gov. Deal's signature projects designed to make Georgia the transportation and logistics hub of North America - which include the recent announcement of 50 percent completion of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, a new inland terminal in Northwest Georgia, and a $10 billion statewide transportation improvement plan.

ABS has broken ground on its new global headquarters. Anchoring the CityPlace 2 development, the new headquarters will be located near the intersection of I-45 and the Grand Parkway in the Houston area. “This is an important milestone in our 155-year-young history and reaffirms our commitment to Houston,” said ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. The new world headquarters will be a 10-story, 326,800-sq-ft building that will house employees from ABS and its affiliated companies. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2018.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. today announced that on March 8, it held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new merchant marine academy in Salitran, Dasmariñas City, the Philippines. It will be jointly established with Magsaysay Maritime Corporation (MMC) (*1), MOL’s partner in the Philippines, and is scheduled to open in June 2018. A large audience was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony, including special guests from the city of Dasmariñas and from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); from MOL, Chairman Koichi Muto and Senior Managing Executive Officer Masaaki Nemoto. Everyone in attendance prayed for the safe completion of the construction project.

Crowley Puerto Rico Services, Inc. has broken ground on a $48.5-million construction project for a new pier at its Isla Grande Terminal in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the company announced. The project includes the development of a new 900-foot-long, 114-foot-wide concrete pier and all associated dredging needed to accommodate Crowley’s two new liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered, Commitment Class ships, which are scheduled for delivery in 2017. Crowley’s terminal expansion also includes the installation of three new ship-to-shore container gantry cranes…

CSSC Wärtsilä Engine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd (CWEC) celebrated the beginning of construction on its new 20,000 sq.m. factory with a groundbreaking ceremony on October 28 in Lingang, Shanghai. Following the groundbreaking ceremony, strategic cooperation agreements were signed between CWEC and the Hudong Zhonghua and Shanghai Waigaoqia (SWS) shipyards. According to Wärtsilä , these agreements will be instrumental in promoting the development of efficient ship designs and solutions that will meet the evolving needs of the yards' ship owner customers.

China hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the building of two lighthouses in the disputed South China Sea, state media said on Tuesday, a move that is likely to escalate tensions in a region already jittery about Beijing's maritime ambitions. China's Ministry of Transport hosted the ceremony for the construction of two multi-functional lighthouses on Huayang Reef and Chigua Reef on the disputed Spratly islands, state news agency Xinhua said, defying calls from the United States and the Philippines for a freeze on such activity. The reefs are known in English as Cuateron Reef and Johnson South Reef. The Ministry of Transport did not answer calls for comment. Last year, the Philippines accused China of reclaiming land on Johnson South Reef, apparently to build an airstrip.

U.S. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today joined Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and other Federal, state and local officials to break ground on two major infrastructure projects at the Port of Virginia. Supported by nearly $200 million in federal funding, the projects will relieve congestion and delays at the port terminals and naval base, while reducing harmful emissions and increasing safety in adjacent neighborhoods. “Ports like this one show us that having a first-class transportation system can attract first-class jobs and enable American businesses to ship goods all across the world,” said Secretary Foxx. The I-564 Connector Project…

San Jacinto College has broken ground along the Port of Houston for its new 45,000-square-foot Maritime Training Center. At the site of 3700 Old Highway 146 in La Porte, stood student Dave Allen, taking in the view of concrete piers that will support San Jacinto College Maritime Training Center, a facility to prepare new mariners and serve as local training site. “This is going to prepare so many people for work in this industry,” said the San Jacinto College maritime student, who is on track for employment with a local maritime company and completes his second internship this year.

The Maritime Helicopter Support Company (MHSCo), a Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin joint venture company, today broke ground to build the maintenance and warehouse facilities that will provide Through Life Support logistics services for the Royal Australian Navy's new fleet of 24 MH-60R SEAHAWK helicopters. Once completed in early 2015, the two buildings, totaling more than 11,400 square meters (120,000 square feet), will house as many as 120 personnel with the knowledge and ability to keep the fleet in peak flight readiness during its estimated 30-year lifespan. "Excavation and construction of these Through Life Support buildings begin an important chapter for the long-term readiness of Australia's most sophisticated maritime helicopter," said Rod Skotty, President of MHSCo.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held at DP World’s London Gateway Logistics Park to mark the start of construction on a 316,000 square foot distribution facility. The building is being developed speculatively as an equal joint venture between DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, and Prologis, the global leader in industrial real estate. The ceremony took place on Friday, February 6 and was attended by Jamal Majid Bin Thaniah, Non-Executive Director and Vice Chairman for DP World, Mohammed Sharaf, DP World Group Chief Executive, and Hamid R.