Metal Shark
Metal Shark News
Metal Shark Building 22 Vessels for Jamaica's Coast Guard
Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark announced it has won a contract to build 22 welded-aluminum high-speed surface interceptor vessels for the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).JDF has selected the Metal Shark 36 Fearless, a high-performance center console craft proven in service with multiple military, law enforcement, and first responder agencies worldwide. Procured via direct purchase, these new surface interceptor vessels will be used by the JDF-Coast Guard for law enforcement…
Metal Shark Debuts Prowler Autonomous Vessel and Frenzy Micro-USV
Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark has unveiled Prowler, its new autonomous, amphibious, and semi-submersible military craft engineered to meet the current and near future warfighting requirements of the U.S. military and its allies. The company is also debuting Frenzy, a high-performance, low-cost, amphibious micro-USV (uncrewed surface vehicle) with a payload carrying capacity of up to 14 pounds.“Prowler…
Metal Shark Boosts Production Capacity with Third Louisiana Facility
U.S.-based boat builder Metal Shark is expanding its presence in its home state of Louisiana with the addition of a third manufacturing facility and a new recruitment effort.The expansion follows the recent divestiture of its Alabama-based ship refit and repair business, after the company sold its operations to Birdon America.With a new 40,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Iberia Parish, Louisiana…
Birdon Acquires Metal Shark's Bayou La Batre Shipyard
Australia's Birdon Group announced its U.S. subsidiary has reached a deal to acquire Metal Shark Boats' shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Ala.Birdon America said it will utilize the 32-acre facility for vessel repair work as well as newbuild activity, including construction of the U.S. Coast Guard's $1.187 billion 27-vessel Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) Program awarded to Birdon in 2022.Birdon Group CEO…
Metal Shark Building Fireboats for Anne Arundel County FD
Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark is building two welded-aluminum fireboats for Anne Arundel County Fire Department in Maryland.The new 50 Defiant NXT monohull pilothouse fireboats were designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team and are now under construction at the company’s Franklin, La. shipyard. The newbuilds were ordered to replace the department's 20-year-old main fireboat, Lady Anne, delivered from MetalCraft Marine in 2023.
Metal Shark Hires Marshall as Executive VP
Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark announced it has expanded its executive team with a newly recruited appointment from the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock (NSWC). Jason Marshall joins Metal Shark as Executive Vice President – Programs, following a 30 year career with NSWC’s Combatant Craft Division (CCD).Marshall most recently served as CCD’s In-Service Systems Engineering Branch Head (2019-2023)…
New Vessel Enters Service for Fire Island Ferries
Fire Island Ferries has taken delivery of its newest vessel, Fire Island Maid, designed by Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) and built by Metal Shark in Bayou La Batre, Ala.The 70- by 23-foot multipurpose vehicle ferry features a steel hull and aluminum superstructure and is equipped with a hydraulic ramp for loading and unloading heavy equipment. The reinforced deck is capable of supporting fully loaded concrete trucks and general cargo up to 100,000 pounds.
Anchorage Launch Gets New Metal Shark-built Crew Boat
Metal Shark delivered a welded-aluminum 45 Defiant crew boat to Anchorage Launch Services Company, an Oregon-based operator providing launch, line, pilotage, and cargo services to vessels on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.Designed in-house by the Metal Shark engineering team and built at the company’s Jeanerette, La., production facility, the 47 x 12 ft. twin-diesel waterjet-powered “Triumph VII” is now in service.“Our captains…
From Surface to Subsea to Space: U.S. Navy Shipbuilding Outlook 2022
As a rudderless U.S. Navy debates maritime strategy, fleet futures and platform performance, America’s naval shipbuilding industry can look forward to another year of relative stasis.Barring a major geopolitical incident or unexpected maritime provocation, government shipbuilding isn’t going to change course. With Admiral Michael Gilday approaching the final “lame duck” year of his four-year term as Chief of Naval Operations and the 2024 election season looming…
US Supplying Ukraine with Over 20 Metal Shark Military Vessels
The United States is providing Ukraine with a range of defense articles, including 23 welded-aluminum military vessels built by Louisiana-based Metal Shark, to help Ukraine to better protect its coastline, waterways and ports.Last week it was announced that six of the U.S. Navy’s new 40 PB maritime combat vessels would be sent to Ukraine as part of a $450 million security assistance package. Built…
Updates, Developments and Advances in Combat and Patrol Craft
My first visit in 2007 to the American Society of Naval Engineers’ (ASNE) Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC) was an eye-opener. Having built a naval architecture career with frigates, destroyers and other large naval and commercial ships, I was eager to learn of the smaller craft used by the U.S. Navy and other government and military bodies. As my flight into Norfolk, Va. descended over Chesapeake Bay…
Metal Shark Awarded $36 Million Patrol Boat Deal
Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has been awarded a contract to establish fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 pricing for Near Coastal Patrol Vessels (NCPVs) seven through 10, and accompanying outfitting, testing, spares, tools, travel, reactivation, crew familiarization, exportation and transportation, the U.S. Department of Defense announced.Awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, the deal is a $36…
Metal Shark Inks Deal to Build Fire Island Ferries to EBDG Design
Metal Shark won a contract to build a new vehicle ferry for Fire Island Ferries, a vessel designed by Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG).Construction of the new Fire Island Maid recently commenced at Metal Shark’s Bayou La Batre, Alabama shipyard, and the 70 x 23-ft.vessel features a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. With its hydraulically operated bow ramp and reinforced decks designed to support fully loaded concrete trucks and general cargo…
Passenger Vessel Sector Faces Winding Path Back to ‘Normal’
The year just ended, 2021, might be described as being about “trying to get back to normal”, across the entire transportation spectrum, two years into the pandemic. During this time, the decarbonization and electrification waves have swept across maritime passenger transport. The passenger side of the business is dependent on multiple funding sources; increasingly, this money will be driven by environmental and social considerations.The long-awaited funding of “infrastructure”-related projects…
Metal Shark Delivers Pilot Boat to Pascagoula Pilots
Boat builder Metal Shark said it has delivered a 55- by 17-foot welded aluminum pilot boat to the Pascagoula Bar Pilots Association in Mississippi.Designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team and built at the company’s Franklin, La. shipyard, the new Singing River Island is the second Metal Shark pilot boat to join the Pascagoula Pilots fleet. It represents the latest evolution in the Louisiana-based builder’s Defiant-class pilot boat lineup…
Marine News' Top Boats of 2021
Sea Change - America’s first hydrogen powered ferrySWITCH Maritime’s new 70-foot passenger ferry Sea Change is navigating uncharted waters as the United States’ first zero-emissions, hydrogen fuel cell-powered, electric-drive ferry.The pioneering aluminum newbuild, constructed by Bellingham, Wash. shipbuilder All American Marine, Inc. (AAM), has been completed and was launched this summer, though permitting of hydrogen fuel systems for maritime vessels is still being worked out with the U.S.
The Case for Stock Boats
Could you imagine designing your own car or truck or airplane, and then trying to build it? Unless you’re Elon Musk, you most likely couldn’t.Today’s consumers don’t want to solve their own problems, they want turnkey solutions, and they want them now. In what industry—other than maritime—do you see customers designing their own products, putting them out for bid, and then dealing with time and cost overruns?
Metal Shark Delivers Next-gen Fireboat to Orange Beach Fire Rescue
Shipbuilder Metal Shark has introduced the 38 Defiant NXT, described as a next-generation welded aluminum monohull pilothouse model based on the company’s 38 Defiant platform. The first new vessel, “Fire Boat 2,” has been delivered to Orange Beach Fire Rescue in Alabama.Since 2011, Metal Shark has delivered over 100 legacy model 38 Defiant vessels, in a wide range of configurations to fire departments…
Metal Shark: Moving Fast Ahead
In any business, companies that achieve success must do at least one thing extraordinarily well. Shipbuilders like Metal Shark Boats are among companies that have taken their success to the next level by do a lot of things well. Government and commercial. Aluminum, steel and fiberglass. Serial and custom. Newbuild and repair. Sixteen to 300-plus feet. Patrol boats, pilot boats, fireboats, passenger ferries. Domestic and international.
Metal Shark Delivers Two Fireboats to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
Shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered two of three new welded-aluminum “50 Defiant” monohull pilothouse fireboats to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR).Designed by Metal Shark’s in-house engineering team and built to Lloyds Registry Standard, the welded-aluminum monohull pilothouse fireboats “FB-21” and “FB-73” were acquired to boost MDFR’s maritime firefighting capability and will replace existing vessels in its fleet.Compared to MDFR’s outgoing vessels…
