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Metal Shark Boats to invest $1.9 million in Louisiana facility

Metal Shark Boats LLC has announced plans to invest $1.9 million in its Jeanerette, La., facility, which will allow it to complete a $192 million contract to build 500 Response Boat-Small patrol vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard over the next seven years. Along with creating 106 new jobs, the project retains 75 existing jobs and is expected to create another 164 indirect jobs in the area.

The company will produce the second generation of a 29-ft.-long vessel that has a top speed of more than 50 MPH. The boats are used for port, waterway, and coastal security; search and rescue missions; drug interdiction cases; immigration-related operations; fisheries enforcement; and defense readiness and law enforcement missions.

Once the expansion is completed and full production is achieved, the facility will produce one boat every four or five days. The company also is building other boat classes for the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, local law enforcement agencies, and foreign militaries.