Alabama Facility News

Choosing the ‘top stories of 2018’ was, this year, a difficult task. Many compelling story threads played out, dramatically impacting the North American waterfront, and in particular, the workboat sector – each in their own unique way. Read on to find out how and why.Autonomous Vessels: Ready or Not, Here They ComeFuturistic, remote-controlled autonomous marine vehicles aren’t coming. They are here. As the pace of change quickens, autonomous vessels are already providing service and value on the water. Out ahead of the rulemaking process, autonomous technology providers already churn out not just prototypes and designs, but also countless workboats, many already in service.

Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark said it has acquired the assets of Alabama-based Horizon Shipbuilding, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2017.Metal Shark will assume ownership of Horizon’s fully developed 35-acre shipbuilding facility in the Mobile Bay region, following a motion approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Alabama on June 5, 2018.The Horizon facility, which features separate east and west yards both fronting a dredged deepwater inlet…

APM Terminals Mobile welcomes Arkansas-based global retail giant Walmart’s plans for a new International Distribution Center to be opened 15 miles from the port. The sixth of Walmart’s US international distribution centers, the Irvington, Alabama facility will handle Walmart’s import cargoes destined for Walmart’s Regional Distribution Centers in the American South. The recently completed Panama Canal lock widening project will permit vessels of up to 13,000 TEU capacity to transit the canal, bringing larger vessels and new opportunities to the deep-water terminal strategically located on the US Gulf Coast. The APM Terminals Mobile terminal opened in September of 2008. With a depth of 45 feet, the facility is currently equipped with two STS cranes capable of a 19-row reach.

World Marine of Alabama (WMA), a division of World Marine, LLC, competitively bid and won a contract to dry-dock and repair the USNS Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT-1125), a Military Sealift Command (MSC) tanker operated by Ocean Shipholdings, Inc. World Marine, LLC purchased all the assets of Signal International in December 2015, including the Mobile, Alabama-based shipyard. World Marine remains one of the safest shipyards in the country, with its Alabama facility boasting zero accidents for over 460 days, and an OSHA total recordable injury rate (TRIR) of 0.0 for 2015.

BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards Alabama has been selected by Weeks Marine, Inc. to build an 8,500 cubic yard capacity twin screw trailing suction hopper dredge at its Mobile, Alabama facility. Upon completion, dimensions of the vessel will be 356-feet long, 79-feet wide with a draft of 27 feet. Weeks Marine, Inc., which has its dredging headquarters in Covington, Louisiana, is one of the largest providers of dredging services in the United States. This will be a state-of-the art trailing suction hopper dredge and the first designed by IHC Merwede to be built in the United States. IHC Merwede, located in The Netherlands, is a world leader in the design and construction of advanced dredging equipment.

Austal USA is pleased to announce the promotion of John Caccivio to Vice President of Global Defense Programs. Mr. Caccivio joined Austal as part of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program in December 2004. After a brief assignment to Austal Ships in Henderson, Western Australia, he was assigned as Program Manager for Littoral Combat Ships at Austal’s Mobile, Alabama facility. He assumed the role of business development manager for Austal USA defense programs in 2006. In his new position, Mr. Caccivio is responsible for Austal’s global defense strategy and business development. He will coordinate the business sector for the Austal Group which is currently comprised of five shipyards in Australia and the US. Before joining Austal, Caccivio spent 22 years as a U.S.

Even before the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., the offshore market in the Gulf of Mexico had shown signs of weakening. However one shipyard — Atlantic Marine-Mobile — has reported a steady flow of work with the award of several, substantial offshore refurbishment contracts in recent months. The shipyard in Mobile has a long history with the offshore market, but it notes that 2001 has been particularly busy. Semi-submersible and jack-up rigs have occupied the Mobile, Alabama facility throughout 2001. The influx of offshore work includes the following. ENSCO International's jack-up rig ENSCO 68, arrived in Mobile in late March.

Even before the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., the offshore market in the Gulf of Mexico had shown signs of weakening. However one shipyard - Atlantic Marine-Mobile - has reported a steady flow of work with the award of several, substantial offshore refurbishment contracts in recent months. The shipyard in Mobile has a long history with the offshore market, but it notes that 2001 has been particularly busy. Semi-submersible and jack-up rigs have occupied the Mobile, Alabama facility throughout 2001. The influx of offshore work includes the following. ENSCO International's jack-up rig ENSCO 68, arrived in Mobile in late March.

Austal received its Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Mobile for the newest addition to the shipbuilder’s Mobile, Alabama facility. The Panel Line Shop is located on the north side of Assembly Bay 1 and opens up directly into the assembly bay to allow for ease of transporting the panels from the shop onto the production floor. The ground floor of the building, where the panels are assembled, is 200-ft. by 45 ft. wide totaling over 9,000 sf. The second level will house offices and meeting/training rooms. The Panel Line Shop is an addition to the building where the two U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are under construction.

The 107-meter Auto Express vehicle-passenger catamaran, launched at Austal’s Mobile, Alabama facility on January 18, for the Hawaii Superferry Corporation has been officially named Alakai (Hawaiian for “ocean path”). The ferry will now transit to the Hawaiian Islands to commence service later this summer. In April, Alakai successfully completed sea trials conducted in the Gulf of Mexico. There were numerous challenges involved in completing the largest aluminium ship built to date in the USA to ensure adherence to stringent weight controls and construction standards Austal is renowned for in its high performance vessels. It quickly became evident that the American design and construction team had indeed set a high standard when the ferry was put to the test in Gulf waters.