MARAD to Award $20M in Grants to Small Shipyards for Modernization

MARAD grants to small US shipyards for modernization — St. Johns Ship Building received a grant in 2021 for a new dry dock (St. Johns Ship Building)

Continuing the Biden Administration’s efforts to support the U.S. maritime industry while building infrastructure and jobs, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced the availability of nearly $20 million in new federal funding for grants to smaller U.S. shipyards. The funding will be awarded for projects that help modernize small, U.S. shipyards and for workforce training.

“Small shipyards strengthen our maritime industry and communities along and near our nation’s ports and waterways, employing thousands of Americans who ensure we maintain expertise and skills critical to our economic and national security,” said Acting Maritime Administrator Lucinda Lessley. “In addition to being economic mainstays, U.S. shipyards demonstrate some of the most innovative shipbuilding in the world, and the Small Shipyard Grant Program encourages continued innovation.”

The goal of MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program is to strengthen the economic competitiveness of shipyards by providing grants that can be used to purchase equipment or train employees. Since its inception in 2008, the program has awarded 299 grants totaling approximately $263 million.

MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant are available to U.S. shipyards with fewer than 1,200 production employees. The deadline for submission for this year’s program is May 16, 2022.

These grants will help strengthen our shipyards and our national supply chains—helping to curb inflation and reduce delays for American consumers,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

In April 2021, DOT announced $19.6 million in grant awards to 31 small shipyards in 15 states through the Small Shipyard Grant Program. The largest grants went to St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Florida for $1.3 million to support the construction of a drydock, $1.4 million to Stevens Towing Co. of Yonges Island, South Carolina for the purchase of a lift at its North Yard, and $1.1 million to Bollinger Marine Fabricators in Amelia, Louisiana to support the purchase of new machinery. The grants were widely dispersed to shipyards in Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, And Washington.