Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La., has hired Heath B. Jones as its vice president of government relations and strategic partnerships.
Jones, who served as the 14th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, brings more than 30 years of maritime service and leadership, the shipyard announced in a press release. The shipyard said that Jones is tasked with strengthening Bollinger’s ties with government customers, including the Coast Guard and Navy, while also pursuing opportunities in commercial markets.
Jones joins Bollinger as the U.S. shipbuilding sector is positioned for a surge in work following enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the shipyard said, which includes $25 billion for the Coast Guard. The legislation funded the next two vessels in the polar security cutter program, built at Bollinger, and allocated $1 billion for additional fast response cutters. Bollinger said it is currently negotiating with the Coast Guard on at least 10 more FRCs.
“I’m honored to return home to Louisiana and join the Bollinger team,” Jones said. “As a young cutterman, I served as executive petty officer and later skipper of a Bollinger-built 87-foot coastal patrol boat constructed in Lockport in the 1990s. To now come full circle and be part of the company that built the platforms I once sailed on is deeply meaningful.”
