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U.S. shipyards receive $9.98 million in grants to strengthen competitiveness

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced $9.98 million in grants will be awarded to 15 small shipyards throughout the U.S. to pay for modernizations that will increase productivity and help the country's small shipyards compete in the global marketplace.

The U.S Maritime Administration's (MARAD) Small Shipyard Grants Program provides equipment and technical skills training for America's maritime workforce. MARAD received 141 grant applications requesting $123 million in assistance. The grants fund a variety of projects, including infrastructure improvements and modernizing equipment to increase the efficiency, competitive operations, and quality construction of vessels in U.S. shipyards.

Grantees are:

  1. Allen Marine Inc. (Sitka, Alaska) – $163,500 to purchase a welding fume and particulate extraction system.
  2. Bludworth Marine LLC (Houston) – $610,266 to purchase a rubber-tire gantry crane to lift and transport barges, large modules, and materials throughout the yard.
  3. Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport (Lockport, La.) – $188,887 to purchase a robotic plasma pipe cutting machine, a big-top tent structure to protect a vessel structure, and an induction heating distortion control.
  4. Chesapeake Shipbuilding Corp. (Salisbury, Md.) – $423,752 to purchase air compressors, personnel lifts, and a mobile grit-recovery system and to implement a cross-training program for employees.
  5. Conrad Shipyard LLC (Amelia, La.) – $1,117,019 for drydock modernization and expansion.
  6. Detyens Shipyards Inc. (Charleston, S.C.) – $1,176,776 to purchase two 20-ton tower cranes for an existing drydock.
  7. Foss Maritime Co., Foss Seattle Shipyard (Seattle) – $578,402 to purchase two 45-ft. personnel lifts, a 14,000-CFM dust collection system, a 3-ton forklift, and shelters for additional work overflow.
  8. Duclos Corp. DBA Gladding–Hearn Shipbuilding (Somerset, Mass.) – $389,195 to fund shipyard infrastructure upgrades.
  9. Gulf Marine Repair Corp. (Tampa, Fla.) – $1,083,055 to modernize and upgrade its 14,000-ton drydock.
  10. Kvichak Marine Industries (Seattle) – $987,307 to purchase a waterjet cutting table, a hydraulic swing-beam shear, lighting enhancements, a jib-crane column replacement, welding equipment, and to fund a training program in boatbuilding skills.
  11. LEEVAC Shipyards LLC (Jennings, La.) – $667,324 to purchase a pipe and tube bending system.
  12. Liquid Waste Technology LLC (New Richmond, Wis.) – $558,843 to purchase two forklifts, a 50-ton rubber tire gantry crane, and a training simulator room.
  13. Navatek Ship Construction (Honolulu, Hawaii) – $248,805 to purchase wind turbines and towers that will provide clean, renewable electrical service to the yard.
  14. The Great Lakes Towing Co. DBA Great Lakes Shipyard (Cleveland) – $1,068,474 to purchase lighting, a burn table for automatic cutting, a scissor lift, welding equipment, scaffolding, a high-pressure lifting skid, boom lift, generator, and a self-propelled transporter to move vessels and modules throughout the yard.
  15. Trinity Industries Inc. (Caruthersville, Mo.) – $718,395 to purchase a one-side welding system that will fabricate stiffened panels using a butt-welding station, a stiffener fitting station, and a stiffener welding station.