AUSTAL USA HOSTS CONGRESSMAN DALE STRONG
MOBILE, Ala. – Austal USA welcomed U.S. Representative Dale Strong from Alabama’s 5th District to the company’s Mobile, Ala. shipyard today. While onsite, Congressman Strong toured the shipyard’s existing manufacturing facilities and the location for Austal USA’s planned expansion, and discussed the company’s diverse portfolio of new construction, post-delivery and additive manufacturing activities.
Austal USA leadership briefed Congressman Strong on the company’s high-tech steel shipbuilding production line which enables manufacturing increasingly complex ships and components. He toured the 117,000 square foot steel panel line where construction is ongoing on two U.S. Navy towing, salvage and rescue vessels and a Navy dry dock. The panel line houses the latest state-of-the-art computerized and robotic steel processing equipment to handle the current and future demands of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy, including the modular construction of the Coast Guard’s Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and the Navy’s TAGOS-25 ocean surveillance ships.
“We really appreciate the opportunity to highlight our workforce and facilities to our Congressional leaders. Congressman Strong has been a strong supporter of national defense so it was exciting for us to show him the pride and commitment of our talented workforce to provide the best products to defend our nation,” stated Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh. “Their dedication combined with our state-of-the-art facility have resulted in our success, building and delivering ship after ship on-time and on-budget.”
Austal USA has delivered 30 battle force ships to the Navy since 2009 and has eight ships from five different programs currently under construction. The company is investing in a submarine module production facility in Mobile and has established ship service facilities in Mobile, Ala., San Diego, Calif., and Singapore.