The military and Coast Guard budgets are established that will benefit the U.S. ship building and repair sector, but what will stimulate the commercial yards?This author has been scratching his head of late, after a thrilling dive into July’s U.S. Big Beautiful Bill Act, and has asked several colleagues where the funding for support commercial shipbuilding can be found? To answer that
[The following are exerpts and paraphrasing from testimony given by Matthew O. Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), to Congress on the morning of February 26, 2025.]While maritime strength and shipbuilding historically have been a cornerstone of global power, shifting times and geopolitical pressures impact readiness and output.
Manson Construction has long been a pillar of the U.S. maritime industry, rooted in a tradition of U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-operated vessels. The company was founded in 1905 by Peter Manson, when he dug up a jar of gold coins [because he didn’t trust the banks] and purchased a winch, a winch that was then put on a barge and that became Manson's first pile driver.
Each year, as we prepare for the largest U.S. based maritime industry conference in New Orleans, we tend to look back on the state of the industry and initiatives that were announced from the conference that took place the year before. 2023 provided us with plenty to talk about. In September of 2023
HII announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of W International SC, LLC and Vivid Empire SC, LLC (collectively “W International”), a South Carolina-based complex metal fabricator specializing in the manufacture of shipbuilding structures, modules and assemblies.
HII announced that Roger Kelly has been promoted to vice president of contracts and pricing at its Newport News Shipbuilding division. Kelly succeeds Matt Mulherin Jr., who has been appointed vice president of supply chain and strategic sourcing at NNS.Kelly will have overall responsibility for contracts, pricing, and export/import licensing and compliance for NNS.
Fincantieri and Princess Cruises celebrated the delivery of Star Princess, the second LNG-powered (liquefied natural gas) cruise ship in Princess Cruises’ Sphere Class, at the Monfalcone shipyard.The ceremony was attended by Gus Antorcha, President of Princess Cruises, Mauro Bordin, President of the Regional Council of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Ester Fedullo, Prefect of the Province of Gorizia
American Cruise Lines christened American Patriot in Newport, Rhode Island last week—celebrating the holiday and simultaneously marking the countdown to the country’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. American Patriot is the first ship in the company’s new Patriot Class—a fleet of new 130-passenger ships designed for exclusively cruising the U.S.A.
TM Edison, a consortium of Belgian marine construction companies DEME and Jan De Nul, has installed the first two of a total 23 caissons in the Belgian North Sea, marking the start of construction for the Princess Elisabeth Island, the ‘world’s first’ artificial energy island.Caissons are concrete building blocks that form the outline of the future island.
Seas Geosciences has completed the conversion of the BOS Princess into a multipurpose geotechnical drilling vessel that is now ready to serve the global offshore energy industry.With its 80-metre length and close to 19-metre beam, the BOS Princess is equipped to support Seas’ geotechnical investigations.
Stephen O’Grady, of East Providence, Rhode Island, has been selected as the next deputy technical director for technical excellence at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport.Formerly the director of technology and strategy for the Undersea Warfare (USW) Combat Systems Department, O’Grady spearheaded the organization’s product vision.
The Executive Control Board of the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) selected 13 panel projects for award as part of the program's mission to reduce costs and expand capability for U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair. These new projects, valued at over $2.55M in government funding, were among those proposed in response to the Panel Project Solicitation issued in June 2024.