Millions Spent to Strengthen U.S. Shipyards

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded $4.9 million in grants to support capital improvements at nine small shipyards located throughout the United States. 

Provided through the Small Shipyard Grant Program, the funding supports industrial modernizations that increase productivity, allowing the nation’s small shipyards to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.

Small shipyards play a significant role in U.S. shipbuilding and repair activity. The facilities vary in size, from family-owned businesses employing a few dozen workers, to multifaceted establishments with hundreds of employees. The grants, which were primarily available to U.S. shipyards with less than 600 production employees, will fund a variety of projects including infrastructure improvements and equipment upgrades to increase operational competitiveness and quality vessel construction.

“U.S. shipyards produce what are unquestionably some of the best-built vessels in the world,” said Maritime Administrator Paul “Chip” Jaenichen. “The grants awarded today will help ensure that ‘Built in America’ remains an international shipbuilding standard.”

MARAD received 118 grant applications requesting $80 million in assistance, far exceeding the $4.9 million made available for the grants. Since 2009, the Obama administration has provided more than $167 million to help U.S. shipyards and their workers.

The awards are:

Gravois Aluminum Boats, LLC, Jeanerette, LA         
$582,410 for a big top portable shelter and a transporter)

Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Salisbury, MD                  
$545,504 for a mobile rough terrain crane and infrastructure improvements

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Panama City, FL          
$529,868 for a precision cutting system

Marine Group Boat Works, Chula Vista, CA              
$414,954 for gantry crane and metal working equipment

Diversified Marine, Portland, OR                               
$304,846 for boom lifts, scissor lifts, welding equipment and other equipment

Conrad Orange Shipyard, Orange, TX                      
$604,505, for LNG tank building equipment and pipe welding equipment

Yank Marine, Dorchester, NJ                                     
$386,250 for a 70-ton rough terrain crane

Yager Marine, Owensboro, KY                                  
$786,673 for a 1200-ton drydock