Build Program News

Estonia has taken delivery of a new 38-meter multipurpose workboat that combines compressed biomethane and battery-electric propulsion with research, buoy-handling, pollution-response and rescue capabilities in a single vessel.Named KRATT, the new vessel was designed and built by Baltic Workboats for the Estonian State Fleet and christened August 12 at Saaremaa, Estonia. The €22 million vessel is scheduled to enter service in Estonian waters this autumn.At the center of the newbuild is an alternative-fuel power plant designed around compressed biomethane (CBM) as its primary fuel…

Ports of Indiana has been awarded a $25 million federal “BUILD” grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to support a $32 million expansion of its Jeffersonville port. This grant is the largest federal award in Ports of Indiana’s 65-year history.The BUILD program (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) is administered by USDOT to provide grants for surface transportation infrastructure projects with significant local or regional impact. This week…

The William E. Moran has entered service in New York, bringing enhanced capability and performance to Moran’s evolving fleet. As the first vessel in the company’s next-generation class, it is purpose-built to meet the demands of modern port operations, support evolving customer needs, and advance Moran’s goals for safety, efficiency, and environmental responsibility. These next-generation tugs will be among the largest in the fleet, underscoring Moran’s continued focus on delivering safe…

Singapore-based engineering group Seatrium has reported strong execution in the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, bolstered by major offshore and wind project deliveries, a high-value order book and strategic asset sales.The group’s net order book stood at about $12.8 billion (S$16.6 billion), covering 24 projects slated for delivery through 2031. During the third quarter of 2025 the company completed the wind turbine installation vessel Charybdis and the offshore substations Greater Changhua 2b and 4…

Seaspan Shipyards has awarded a contract to Elomatic Consulting, an international consulting and engineering company, to provide engineering and design support services for the Canadian Coast Guard’s Polar Icebreaker build contract.As one of the primary partners throughout the functional and production design phases of the Polar project, the award further strengthens Elomatic’s ongoing partnership with Seaspan.Under the contract, Elomatic will provide build design support, ensuring…

Chartwell Marine, a pioneer of next-generation vessel design, announced the delivery of Prosperous 6, a new high-performance crew transfer vessel, as part of a strategic partnership with Pacific Radiance, a leading owner and operator of offshore vessels in APAC.The vessel has already successfully completed sea trials, achieving over 25 knots at 85% engine load, which demonstrates that it is highly fuel-efficient. During a bollard push test, the vessel delivered over 17 tons of bollard push…

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, the largest provider of dredging services in the United States, has launched the first U.S. flagged, Jones Act-compliant subsea rock installation (SRI) vessel, named Acadia, at Hanwha Philly Shipyard.The Acadia vessel is engineered to transport and precisely install up to 20,000 metric tons of rock on the seabed.The rock provides critical scour protection for subsea infrastructure including subsea cables for power transmission, telecommunications cables…

St. Johns Ship Building, a Palatka, Florida-based Jones Act-compliant shipyard owned by Americraft Marine, announced the delivery of the WINDEA Reliance, the third and final vessel in a series of 30-meter aluminum Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) built for WINDEA CTV LLC, a partnership between MidOcean Wind and Hornblower Wind.This delivery completes a three-vessel build program that includes the WINDEA Courageous, WINDEA Enterprise, and now WINDEA Reliance—all constructed at St. Johns Ship Building to support offshore wind farm development and operations along the U.S. East Coast.

The U.S. Navy on Friday announced it has placed a $6.75 billion order with San Diego shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO for up to eight John Lewis Class (TAO-205) Fleet Replenishment Oilers. The ships are scheduled for delivery through January 2035.The Navy, which has been looking for ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency across its shipbuilding and repair programs, said it expects the "block buy" approach will unlock savings of $491 million compared to the total anticipated…

McAllister Towing recently placed an order for series 240 JonRie Escort Winches to be installed aboard the tugs Vicki M. McAllister and Janet M. McAllister. The company is undertaking modifications of both tugs, and replacement of the hydraulic winches aboard was seen as the wisest decision.“Brandon has done well with everything he’s undertaken,” said Martin “Marty” Costa, veteran engineering manager at McAllister Towing, a reference to Brandon Durar, president of JonRie Division at Markey Machine in Seattle. “The entire fleet had been outfitted with JonRie not so long ago.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) has returned to Seattle following an onboard fire that occurred during a scientific research expedition in the Arctic Ocean. The incident took place on July 25, 2024, while the vessel was navigating near Banks Island in the Northwest Territories of Canada.The fire, which broke out in an electrical transformer affecting one of the ship’s two main propulsion motors, was quickly extinguished by the crew. No injuries were reported. Following the incident, the crew and contractors worked to restore power to the affected motor.

The cost to construct the United States' first domestically built wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV), Charybdis, has risen to $715 million, Dominion Energy revealed in its latest quarterly results, marking another snag for the fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry.The first-of-its-kind vessel — the only WTIV being built in the U.S. to comply with the Jones Act — was originally slated to cost about $500 million when U.S. power company Dominion ordered it from Brownsville, Texas shipbuilder Seatrium AmFELS (then Keppel AmFELS) in 2020.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has opted to extend its Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutters (FRC) build program, exercising a contract option with Bollinger Shipyards for two additional vessels.The move brings the total number of FRCs awarded to Bollinger up to 67 vessels since the program’s inception. To date, the U.S. Coast Guard has commissioned 55 FRCs into operational service.“We’re incredibly proud of our long history supporting the U.S. Coast Guard that now stretches four decades,” said Bollinger Shipyards President and CEO Ben Bordelon.

The developer of an innovative towboat engineered to run on hydrogen generator technology has signed a Design Basis Agreement (DBA) with the U.S. Coast Guard, helping to clear the regulatory path toward the vessel's eventual entry into service.The first-of-its-kind vessel, Hydrogen One, is being produced by Maritime Partners, the Metairie, La.-based maritime financing company that unveiled plans for the groundbreaking towboat in 2021.Designed by Seattle-based Elliott Bay Design Group…

The Canadian government on Tuesday announced it has awarded a pair of contracts to Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. (VSY) to initiate the next stages of procuring the first flight of Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPV) for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).These contracts, which are worth $490.6 million combined (taxes included), following completion of the vessel’s basic design review in late 2023 and allow VSY to undertake pre-construction work, such as selecting specific pieces of equipment…

Canada's BC Ferries announced Dutch shipbuilding conglomerate Damen Shipyards Group has been selected to build its four new hybrid electric Island Class vessels.Damen, the same shipbuilder that built BC Ferries’ previous six Island Class ferries between 2020 and 2022, will construct the vessels in Romania, after its bid was selected from among several proposals received from around the world. No Canadian companies bid for the build program, BC Ferries said.The agreement is a design-build…

Philly Shipyard this week held a keel laying ceremony for the fourth of five new purpose built, state-of-the-art training vessels for America’s state maritime academies.The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) new vessel program – known as National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMVs) – was designed to provide world-class training for America’s future mariners and to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in times of need.

Kongsberg Maritime will provide a suite of equipment to a newbuild ship dubbed SDO-SuRS (Special and Diving Operations - Submarine Rescue Ship) to be built by the Italian shipyard T.Mariotti for Marina Militare Italiana (The Italian Navy).Central to this order are a pair of Kongsberg Elegance propulsion pods, direct electric permanent magnet motor driven pods matched with a Kongsberg electric power system, including batteries and power management system.According to Kongsberg…

Chad Verret, a former executive in the offshore marine services business, has started a new marine consultancy called Verret Marine Consulting, LLC. The Louisiana-based company has offices in the Houston area and in Morgan City, La. and will be focused on areas such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, alternative fuels and marine based liquefaction projects.Verret got his start in the offshore industry nearly 40 years ago, signing on with Tidewater Marine as a deckhand in 1985…

U.S. shipbuilding group Conrad Shipyard recently launched Galveston Island, the first of two newbuild hopper dredges being built for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, the United States' largest provider of dredging services. The new 6,500-cubic-yard-capacity trailing suction hopper dredge is in the water and is scheduled to be in operation the first half of 2023 as planned, Great Lakes said in an update on Monday.The dredge will be equipped with a direct high-power pump-ashore installation, dredging system automation, dynamic positioning and tracking, U.S.

Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA has been cleared to begin the second stage of the U.S. Coast Guard's (USCG) Heritage-class offshore patrol cutter (OPC) build program following the withdrawal of an award protest filed by an unsuccessful bidder, the USCG said on Thursday.In June, Austal USA was awarded a $208.26 million contract for detail design and long lead-time material for one OPC, with options for production of up to 10 additional vessels. The deal could be worth up to $3.33 billion if all options are exercised.

The construction of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd's (CMAL) two new ferries for Islay is officially underway after a steel-cutting ceremony at Cemre Marin Endustri shipyard in Turkey on Monday.The new 94.8-meter vehicle passenger ferries will each have capacity for up to 450 passengers and 100 cars or 14 commercial vehicles, providing a combined 40% increase in vehicle and freight capacity on the Islay routes and improving the overall resilience of the wider fleet. Carbon reduction…

Mobile, Ala. shipbuilder Austal USA has been awarded a contract to build up to 11 medium-endurance Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) for the U.S. Coast Guard.The initial $208.26 million award supports detail design and long lead-time material for one OPC, with options for production of up to 10 additional vessels, the Coast Guard announced on Thursday. The deal could be worth up to $3.33 billion if all options are exercised.The 11 Heritage class cutters, designated as Stage 2 of the overall OPC program, follow the first four OPCs being built by Florida shipbuilder Eastern Shipbuilding Group.