Austal lays keel of JHSV 5

Virginia A. Kamsky (left) authenticates keel with the assistance of A class welder Paul Morehouse

MARCH 12, 2014 — Austal USA laid the keel of Trenton (JHSV 5), the fifth of ten Joint High Speed Vessels (JHSV), in a ceremony held Tuesday at its Mobile, AL, shipyard.

The keel was authenticated by the ship’s sponsor, Ms. Virginia A. Kamsky, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kamsky Associates, Inc. (KAI), a strategic advisory firm with offices in Beijing and New York City.

Ms. Kamsky, was chosen to sponsor the ship by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. Ms. Kamsky is a member of the Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel (SNAP), an advisory body which provides the Secretary of the Navy with independent advice and recommendations on critical issues facing the Department of the Navy and the Navy Secretariat. She is a recipient of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award.

Ms. Kamsky was assisted at the ceremony by Mr. Paul Morehouse. Mr. Morehouse is an “A” Class welder and has been part of the Austal team since October of 2011.

A traditional keel-laying ceremony marks the first significant milestone in the construction of the ship. In Austal’s modular approach to ship manufacturing, all 43 of the modules used to form the 103-m aluminum catamaran design JHSV are already being assembled and keel-laying marks the beginning of final assembly.

 “Celebrating this keel laying for the fifth Joint High Speed Vessel is further evidence of the maturity of the JHSV program,” said Craig Perciavalle, Austal USA President. “Having successfully delivered the first two and knowing that four more are under various stages of construction in Austal’s shipyard at this time, I am confident that serial production of these dynamic vessels will continue to move smoothly as planned.”