Austal USA awarded $79.2 million for fifth T-ATS

T-ATS is an ocean-going tug, salvage, and rescue ship [U.S. Navy rendering\

Austal USA has been awarded a $79.2 million U.S. Navy contract option for the construction of T-ATS 15, a Navajo-class Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship. With the award, the company is now under contract for five T-ATS, with T-ATS 11 and T-ATS 12 under construction on its steel assembly line.

T-ATS will provide ocean-going tug, salvage, and rescue capabilities to support U.S. Navy fleet operations and will be a multi mission common hull platform capable of towing heavy ships. These ships will also be able to support current missions, including oil spill response, humanitarian assistance, and wide area search and surveillance.

“Construction of the T-ATS program is well underway at Austal USA. We are very pleased with the performance of our steel panel line,” Austal USA president Rusty Murdaugh said. “This contract award, bringing our total T-ATS program to five ships, illustrates the Navy’s continued confidence in our team’s demonstrated ability to deliver valuable capability on-budget and on-schedule.”

Austal USA says that it “will utilize its proven ship manufacturing processes and innovative methods that incorporate lean manufacturing principles, modular construction, and moving assembly lines to build these ships, all housed under the company’s state-of-the-art enclosed steel production facility.”

Construction on T-ATS 15 will commence in early 2024 with delivery planned for the end of 2027.

In addition to T-ATS, as we reported earlier, Austal USA began construction earlier this month on the Navy’s Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium. These two programs along with the contracts awarded for the U.S. Coast Guard Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters and the Navy’s TAGOS-25 ocean surveillance ships will keep the company’s steel production facility busy for several years into the future.