Company
Birdon said Naval Architecture graduate Owen Spanswick has completed its two-year Futures Graduate Program, becoming the first participant to finish the scheme. He has now moved into a full-time Naval Architect role in Western Australia, supporting defence programs and operations at the Dampier slipway.
Birdon plans to open a 400,000-square-foot ship manufacturing facility at the Port of Pensacola, Florida, making it its sixth US location. The yard said the site would add more than three million production man-hours a year of capacity and employ about 2,000 people, with opening expected as soon as the third quarter of 2027.
Birdon has signed a $125 million contract with the Australian Army to design and build one prototype and 15 Amphibious Vehicles – Logistics (AV-L). The vehicles will be built at Birdon’s yard in Port Macquarie for the Land 8710 Littoral Manoeuvre Program, replacing the Army’s LARC-V fleet.
Birdon America has won a firm fixed-price contract to build a Response Boat-Small demonstrator for the United States Coast Guard. The boat will be delivered to a USCG facility in Norfolk, Virginia, or Charleston, South Carolina, for a three-month operational evaluation.
Birdon has started construction on Inland Construction Tender WLIC 1602, the third Waterways Commerce Cutter vessel in its program for the US Coast Guard. The work began at Bayou La Batre, Alabama, ahead of schedule, after WLIC 1601 started in June and the first River Buoy Tender, WLR 1801, in September.
Birdon said it secured an $18.3m contract from Sweden’s Defence Materiel Administration to deliver 15 Bridge Erection Boats, and it also won a 20-year deal to design, build, operate and maintain the new Daintree River Ferry in Australia. The company said production began on two prototype ASC-M landing craft for the US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, while build-out of 27 Waterways Commerce Cutters for the US Coast Guard is under way.
Birdon has presented Mick Hodges with a Breitling watch after he completed 25 years with the company. The gift is part of a long-running Birdon tradition that began with founder Jim Bruce, who bought a Breitling watch for himself three months before he died.
Birdon has commissioned a new artwork, Bilabaa – River Place, by Birrbay (Birpai) artist and Cultural Industries Creative Director Angela Marr. The piece is on display at the company’s Port Macquarie corporate office, with framed prints also installed in Sydney and Henderson.
Birdon has signed a 20-year contract with Douglas Shire Council to design, build, operate and maintain a new four-lane ferry for the Daintree River crossing. The new 49-metre by 16-metre vessel will carry 36 vehicles and is due to enter service at the end of 2027, after Birdon takes over the current ferry operation on 1 July 2026.
Birdon has won an $18.3 million contract from Sweden's Defence Materiel Administration, FMV, for 15 bridge erection boats. The deliveries are due in two batches, with six boats by 31 December 2026 and nine more by 31 December 2027. All production will be carried out at Birdon's US facilities.
Birdon employee Meg Teasdell completed a 100km overnight run at the Dusk till Dawn event in Canberra. The event, held at the Australian War Memorial from 7pm on Friday 17 October to 7am Saturday 18 October, raised more than $180,000 for Bravery Trust, with donations still coming in.
Birdon has started its first apprenticeship cohort at its Bayou La Batre, Alabama shipyard, beginning with shipfitting apprentices. The programme is registered with the Alabama Office of Apprenticeship and supported by Central Gulf Industrial Alliance, with NCCER-aligned training and planned expansion into pipefitting and marine electrical trades.