Shipping and Logistics

Austal USA Awarded Contract to Build Two New Navy Ships

July 25, 2022

Austal USA has been contracted to build two more towing, salvage, and rescue ships (T-ATS) for the US Navy.

The latest contract for the Mobile, Ala.-based shipbuilder, valued at $156 million, is in addition to two other T-ATS contracts awarded to the company last year.

Austal The T-ATSs support the Navy fleet operations with ocean-going tug, salvage, and rescue capabilities, including oil spill response, humanitarian assistance, and wide-area search and surveillance.

Construction of the first T-ATS ship began earlier this month at Austal’s new 170,000-square-foot steel production facility in Mobile. The facility was officially opened in April of this year.

SSAB Americas was previously announced as the supplier of the steel for the first and second T-ATS ships. Its 1.25-million-tons-per-year plate manufacturing facility is located less than 25 miles away in nearby Axis, Ala.

Construction of the latest contracted ships will begin in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024 with delivery planned for fall 2025 and spring 2026.

“This contract is important because it provides us the backlog to really optimize production over the course of these four ships,” Austal USA president Rusty Murdaugh commented.

Demand and pricing for steel plate have been holding relatively steady for some time now. Plate prices are currently more than double those of hot-rolled coil. With the delta at an all-time high, some market participants think that the spread has become unsustainable. See SMU’s latest Plate Market Report for more information.

By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.