Gulf Island Shipyards to build new salvage ship for Navy

The Safeguard Class (T-ARS) Salvage and Rescue Ships operated by the Navy's Military Sealift Command

MARCH 17, 2018 — Gulf Island Shipyards LLC, Houma, LA, a subsidiary of Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc., will build the next generation of Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ships (T-ATS) for the U.S. Navy. According to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense, the shipyard will receive a $63,560,942 firm-fixed-price and fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for the detail design and construction of the first vessel and subsequent options for seven additional vessels if exercised would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $522,701,092.

The T-ATS Class will replace two different classes of vessels in the Navy: The Safeguard Class of Salvage and Rescue Ship (T-ARS) and the Powhatan Class Fleet Ocean Tug (T-ATF). The two T-ARSs in the fleet, the USNS Grasp and USNS Salvor are operated by the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) to provide towing, salvage, firefighting, diving, and heavy lift capability to the fleet.

Work under the contract (N00024-18-C-2207) for the Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship (T-ATS) will be performed in Houma, LA (92 percent); Hampton, VA (5 percent); Stord, Norway (2 percent); and New Orleans, LA (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2020.  Fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $63,560,942 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  

The contract for Gulf Island Shipyards follows on the company’s successful bid to construct an ice class Z-drive tug for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation last year.