Shipbuilding News, April 2020

Philly Shipyard to build new class of academy training ships

Philly Shipyard has won a contract to build up to five national security multi-mission vessels (NSMVs) for the nation’s maritime academies, according to the Maritime Administration (MarAd). 

MarAd announced the agreement Wednesday between the Philadelphia shipyard and TOTE Services, which is managing construction of the NSMVs. The vessels will be used to train future U.S. mariners in a state-of-the-art platform. The ship will have “numerous” instructional spaces, full training bridge and space for up to 600 cadets to train at sea. 

TOTE placed an initial order for the first two vessels (NSMVs 1 and 2), with deliveries scheduled in spring and winter 2023. TOTE retains options for three additional vessels (NSMVs 3, 4 and 5).

The initial award is valued at approximately $630 million and supports non-recurring engineering and detail design of the NSMV class, as well as procurement of equipment and materials and construction of the first two ships. If all five ships are ordered, the total contract value of the program would be $1.5 billion.

The ships will serve in the U.S. National Defense Reserve Fleet, through which they will play an important role in U.S. disaster response within America and abroad.

Washburn & Doughty delivers Eileen McAllister

Maine shipbuilder Washburn & Doughty has delivered one of its signature 93-by-38-foot tractor tugboats to McAllister Towing. 


Eileen McAllister is a Tier 4 sister tug to Tate McAllister, and the two tugs will work together in Port Everglades, Fla. They will be the most powerful tugs working in the South Florida port visited by larger and larger ships in recent years. 


Eileen’s propulsion system consists of twin 3,385-hp Caterpillar 3512E main engines paired with Schottel SRP 490 z-drives. Ship service power comes from two John Deere 4045 engines delivering 99 kW each. 

Markey supplied the DEPCF-52 electric winch on the bow and DEPC-42 hawser winch on the aft deck. A Caterpillar C18 engine drives the 6,000-gpm fire pump paired with a single FFS monitor with foam injection capability. 

Eileen McAllister, delivered in early April, becomes the 34th tractor tug in the McAllister fleet. 


All American finishing work on hydrogen fuel cell ferry

All American Marine has been awarded a contract to finish the first hydrogen fuel cell vessel in the United States. 

The Bellingham, Wash.-based shipbuilder will complete final outfitting on Switch Maritime’s 70-foot, 84-passenger “e-ferry.” Bay Ship & Yacht of Alameda, Calif., started construction on the aluminum hull and superstructure for the so-called Water-Go-Round project.

The vessel, once finished, will have a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system that creates electricity. That electricity will power motors that turn twin fixed-pitch propellers while producing zero emissions. 

“The vessel will use an onboard set of fuel cells arranged in compact stacks, similar to battery racks, which allows the onboard space to be used efficiently,” according to All American. “The fuel cells turn hydrogen into electricity by injecting hydrogen on one side and by supplying compressed ambient air on the other side of a proton exchange membrane.”

The only byproduct of the system, the shipbuilder said, is water clean enough to drink.

The e-ferry will be deployed in San Francisco Bay as a demonstration model for fuel cell technology. Funding for the project came from several sources, including private investment and the California Air Resources Board. Delivery is expected later this year. 

Maryland Pilots order launch from Gladding-Hearn

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding is building a fourth Chesapeake-class launch for the Association of Maryland Pilots. The shipyard expects the vessel will be delivered in December. 

The 52.6-foot all-aluminum vessel will have twin Volvo Penta D16 engines generating 641 horsepower each, turning Bruntons nibral propellers through ZF reduction gears. Northern Lights will supply a 12-kW genset for electrical power. The top speed is projected to be 25 knots, and a Humphree interceptor trim control system installed at the transom will improve the overall ride and performance. 

The new launch from the shipyard in Somerset, Mass., will be the 22nd in the Chesapeake class since its introduction in 2003. There are 11 pilot companies across the United States running these vessels, which feature the Ray Hunt-designed deep-V hull. 

VT Halter wins contract for additional berthing barge

VT Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Miss., has won a contract for a fourth berthing and messing barge for the U.S. Navy. 

The shipyard already has three of the auxiliary personnel lighter-small (APL) 67 barges under construction. The agreement on the fourth is worth $39.9 million for the design and build. The first three barges are scheduled for delivery by 2021. 

The 269-by-69-foot barges can seat 228 enlisted personnel and 56 officers for each meal, according to VT Halter. The vessels also have berthing spaces for 611 people in a mixed-gender arrangement. They are equipped with a barbershop, fitness center, washrooms, laundry, offices and other spaces for naval personnel.

APL barges are primarily used when ships are in port for inter-deployment training cycles. They can be towed to bases or shipyards as needed, and also can be deployed for humanitarian missions around the world.     

NJ golf club orders passenger vessel from Armstrong

Liberty National Golf Club, located in Jersey City, N.J., a mile or so as the crow flies from the Statue of Liberty, has ordered a new planing catamaran to carry passengers to and from New York City. Delivery is slated for this spring. 

Armstrong Marine of Port Angeles, Wash., is building the 46-foot vessel. It is designed for 30 passengers and two crew. It will carry golfers between the club’s private dock and North Cove Marina in Manhattan near the World Trade Center. 

Propulsion will come from two 425-hp Yamaha outboard motors, and a 12-kW Northern Lights genset will supply electrical power. The wheelhouse will be equipped with Garmin and Furuno navigation electronics. Naturally, the vessel also will have flip-down golf bag storage as well. 

Bollinger delivers latest Coast Guard fast response cutter

Bollinger Shipyards has delivered USCGC Harold Miller, the latest fast response cutter for the Coast Guard in a long-running program at the Louisiana shipbuilder. 

The vessel is the 161st built for the Coast Guard by Bollinger over 35 years, and the 38th fast response cutter, according to the shipyard.

“I want to commend the resilience and dedication of the 600-plus men and women who, despite the threat of global pandemic, continued to work safely and efficiently to build and deliver an exceptional, high-performance cutter to strengthen U.S. national security at a time when our nation needs us most,” Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon said in a prepared statement.

The 154-foot fast response cutters can reach 28 knots and are outfitted with advanced navigational, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. The vessels also can launch and recover a 26-foot interceptor cutter.

By Professional Mariner Staff