Halter Marine Wins Deal to Build US Navy Oceanographic Survey Ship

August 5, 2021

Photo of USNS Maury (T-AGS 66) Constructed by Halter Marine for the U.S. Navy. Courtesy of Halter Marine and the U.S. Navy.

Pascagoula, Miss. shipbuilder Halter Marine announced on Thursday it has been awarded a $149 million contract for the detail design and construction of an oceanographic survey ship (T-AGS 67) for the U.S. Navy.

“This contract continues the momentum and growth of Halter Marine by adding a third government program to its shipyard along with the Polar Security Cutter and Auxiliary Personnel Lighter-Small programs. With this contract award, Halter Marine will add approximately 250 highly skilled jobs allowing for the continued development and expansion of our workforce,” said Bob Merchent, President & CEO of Halter Marine, a company of ST Engineering North America.

Halter Marine has delivered seven Pathfinder class vessels to the U.S. Navy. T-AGS 67 will be the eighth ship in the Pathfinder class – and a modified repeat design of the T-AGS 66 ship. Both vessels are equipped with a 300-square-feet moon pool for unmanned vehicle deployment and retrieval. Pathfinder class vessels are multi-mission ships and can perform a variety of operations including hydro-graphic surveys of uncharted regions and advancing an understanding of the ocean water column, sea surface and sea-floor effects on underwater acoustics.