Under a partnership with Austal USA, Coden, Ala.-based Master Boat Builders Inc. (Master Boat) has commenced module fabrication for the U.S. Navy’s Navajo-class Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship (T-ATS) program. The step serves as a milestone for the shipyard as Master Boat expands its participation in government defense shipbuilding programs.
“Starting fabrication on these modules is an exciting and proud moment for our team,” said Garrett Rice, president of Master Boat Builders. “We said we were ready to take on complex Navy work, and now we’re proving it. This is exactly the kind of program that showcases what Gulf Coast shipbuilders can do.”
Master Boat is fabricating a pair of T-ATS hull modules at its Coden shipyard, located where Bayou Coden meets Portersville Bay and the Alabama Gulf Coast and about 30 minutes from Austal USA’s Mobile, Ala., facility. Once the modules are completed, they will be transported to Austal USA’s shipyard for completion and outfitting.
The T-ATS program will replace the Navy’s aging fleet of ocean tugs and rescue and salvage ships with a multi-mission platform of ships capable of open-ocean towing, salvage and recovery operations, diving support, and humanitarian and disaster response.
Master Boat Builders announced its contract with Austal USA in March, calling it a key contribution to the broader effort to diversity and strengthen the country’s shipbuilding industrial base through distributed production.
“We’re not competing with the major yards,” Rice said in March upon announcing the T-ATS contract. “We’re adding capacity that the Navy needs right now. Our proximity to Austal USA, our experienced workforce, and our new investment in dedicated defense infrastructure all position us to support this program and others that follow.”
Late last year, Master Boat announced construction of a new $60 million, 150,000-square-foot facility that will be dedicated exclusively to government and defense shipbuilding programs. The new facility is being built on a 20-acre site directly across Bayou Coden from the company’s existing shipyard.
