ALABAMA SHIPYARD: Shipyard Renaissance Fully Underway in Alabama

North America, and the rest of the world, must improve its shipbuilding capacity if it is to remain relevant in a time where shipyards in China, South Korea, and emerging markets such as India begin to produce quick, cheap, and at high quality.

There is no discussion around the level of skill employed at the various prominent shipyards in the western world, and the ambition within is admirable. But being globally competitive is essential in reaching the top echelons of the industry.

When it comes to ongoing maintenance and repair, and other ongoing services that are not building major vessels from scratch, the US is home to around 150 successful shipyard operations around its 95,000 mile coastline and across lakes and rivers.

A maritime nation at heart, the US maritime economy is worth around 2% of national GDP, with more than 100,000 employees. A trading nation, the country imports and exports heavily. A military powerhouse, naval vessels sail and dock regularly. A tourism beacon, cruise ships, charter boats, and ferries are maintained to world-class standards. And one of the top five fishing nations in the world, the country’s industrial fleet dominates the waves.

To keep these critical sectors moving, dominant regions have emerged in America, pulling in different ocean-going industries as they offer up exceptional service for vessels and sea farers.

Virginia and Mississippi boast a strong presence in the naval industry, California has a strong presence in the commercial market, Virginia is well-known for nuclear powered ships, Pennsylvania has strength in commercial repairs, Wisconsin has a reputation for tanker vessels and conversion projects, and Alabama is known for engineering excellence across defence and ferries.

Interestingly, Alabama has a relatively small coastline but the southern city of Mobile is perfectly positioned to service clients operating across the Gulf of Mexico and further afield.

A leading player here is Alabama Shipyard. Established in 2019, the relatively young business grew from eight to more than 300 people very quickly. A 355-acre facility, originally founded in 1916, is located on Pinto Island, looking clearly over the Mobile River. The site has produced US navy ships for WWII, and now provides maintenance, repair, overhaul, conversion, and shipbreaking services to the commercial and government markets. Today, Alabama Shipyard has deep-water access, and three full-service piers providing five deep water berths the ability to service some of the largest vessels in operation.

The promise of the company is to provide quality solutions, on-schedule, on-budget, but always doing everything with a concentration around safety. Recent projects prove that this promise is being delivered, and the reputation for US shipyards is being upheld in Alabama.

SAFETY PRIORITY

In June 2023, the company was lauded by the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) for its safety protocols, collecting the award for Excellence in Safety. The SCA oversees and promotes safety policies for members, and praises those with records of success around accident prevention and safe working environments.

“We are truly honoured to receive this prestigious award in recognition of our commitment to safety for the second year in a row,” said Alabama Shipyard CEO, Greg Wagner. “Our team works tirelessly to ensure the safety of each individual working in or visiting our shipyard. This award is a testament to their dedication. We are proud of our team and are grateful to have been acknowledged for our hard work.”

Matthew Paxton, SCA President said: “We are incredibly proud of Alabama Shipyard for its commitment and investment into advancing safety best practices that make our industry an example for other industries to follow.”

To achieve its enviable safety record, the company uses advanced technology and modern tools that reduce risk at all times. It also offers flexible shift patterns to remove burnout and overworking from the workforce. At the same time, comprehensive training is delivered to ensure the team of already highly skilled people grow to become career-skilled crafters with safety embedded in thinking.

BIG CONTRACTS

In July 2023, another significant win was announced for Alabama Shipyard when it secured a $10.7 million contract to provide services for the United States Naval Ship (USNS) John Lenthall, a navy vessel that has seen various deployments including of the coast of Somalia in the battle against piracy in the region.

This significant contract was concluded by the end of the year, and again displayed the vast capabilities of Alabama Shipyard, including its ability to refuel quickly and reliably.

In the same month, the company welcomed the USNS Comfort, a 1000-bed hospital ship supplying lifesaving healthcare support for military and humanitarian operations globally. The $19.7 million contract included essential repairs and maintenance. The project lasted through until January 2024, and was a flagship for the shipyard. “We were glad to have the USNS Comfort back to Mobile,” said Wagner.

At the start of 2024, the USNS Bob Hope was in the drydock for repairs, and in October the USNS SGT William R. Button arrived in Mobile for planned maintenance. this followed successful repairs of the USNS William McLean in 2023. Across all of these projects, safety and quality were the key takeaways from the US Navy and the Military Sealift Command which organises the contracts. Without a stellar reputation for safety, and the experience of highly important work at a national level, Alabama shipyard would not have been able to win such contracts.

REJUVENATING

Alabama Shipyard was an important local employer in the 1940s, home to thousands of artisans, regularly churning out tankers for the war effort. But a decline over the following decades saw the site shuttered in 2018 when BAE Systems announced it no longer required the asset in a strategic shuffle. Greg Wagner was working for a real estate investment firm which purchased the shipyard before quickly unbundling it just a year later. He teamed with an experienced group and purchased the asset, attracted to the clean sheet that was left behind. There was no business, no process, no expectation. Quickly, the team went about winning work, rejuvenating the site, installing modern equipment and procedures to bring life back to the mouth of the Mobile.

“To date, we have invested tens of millions of dollars on improvements to our dry dock, Alabama (one of the largest in the US), pier reconstruction (to meet NAVSEA standards), new roofs, fibre optics and wireless technology to connect the facility and upgrades to the electrical grid for to meet the needs of ships with sensitive electronic systems. We have had tremendous growth and success during the past couple of years bringing the shipyard back and plan to continue on this path,” Wagner said recently.

“The unique features of our 355-acre facility include 8,000 linear feet of available pier space and one of the largest docks in the US, enabling us to service a wide range of vessels in operation today. Currently, the bulk of our contracts are large Military Sealift Command, Maritime Administration, and Oil and Gas commercial vessels,” he said of the expansive infrastructure.

“We have the resources, the people – we’ve proven that time and time again on projects. We have the waterfront, we have the acreage, so what’s the other piece that these industries need to come? I don’t have an answer for that right now, but we know that it’s there, and we need to look at markets outside of this region to start bringing those companies here,” he told gCaptain of his ambitions for the longer-term.

The team at Alabama Shipyard are passionate and knowledgeable about the industry, and they are keen on legacy building. Work of the scale handled already for the Navy is not for your second-tier yard. The company has proven itself among the best, and now Alabama Shipyard is reinforcing the position of the US industry as it looks to lure vessel owners and investors from around the world.