Shipyard
Bollinger Shipyards and the Gulfport School District have launched Bollinger NextGen Shipbuilders, a work-based learning program for Gulfport High School students. The program will train students in welding, pipefitting, marine electrical, maritime carpentry and rigging and fitting at Bollinger’s new training facility in Gulfport.
Bollinger Shipyards has opened a 7,200-square-foot Workforce Training Center at its Gulfport, Mississippi, facility. The yard said the center, developed with the Submarine Industrial Base Program Office and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, will begin bootcamp-style classes in Fall 2026.
Bollinger Shipyards has reached final contract terms with the U.S. Coast Guard to begin production on the Arctic Security Cutter program. The yard said the agreement advances the program and will use a design already selected by close allies and an established supply chain.
Bollinger Shipyards said it has received the Shipbuilders Council of America’s Excellence in Safety Award for the 21st straight year. The yard said the run, which began in 2005, is unmatched by any other U.S. shipbuilder.
Bollinger Shipyards joined U.S. Coast Guard officials and the family of Vincent Danz at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York on 22 May for the commissioning of USCGC Vincent Danz (WPC-1162). The 154-foot Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter was built for the Coast Guard and is the second Bollinger-built cutter to carry memorial plaques made with steel from the World Trade Center debris.
Bollinger Shipyards has named Mark Matta Sr. vice president and general manager of its Houma shipyard after Rich Murphy retired. Murphy had led the facility, which is working on the Navy’s TATS and LSM programs, the National Science Foundation’s RCRV program and the Coast Guard’s ASC program.
Bollinger Shipyards christened the USNS Robert Ballard (T-AGS 67), a Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey ship, at its Mississippi Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula on 28 February. The vessel will be operated by Military Sealift Command when delivered and is named for oceanographer Robert Ballard.
Bollinger Shipyards and U.S. Coast Guard officials commissioned USCGC Olivia Hooker in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 22 January. The cutter will be homeported there, and Bollinger said it took delivery of the vessel at Coast Guard Sector Key West in October 2025.
Bollinger Shipyards has signed a contract with the U.S. Coast Guard to build four Arctic Security Cutters, a new class of medium polar icebreakers. The work will be based at the yard’s Houma, Louisiana, facility and supported by multiple Gulf Coast sites.
Rauma Marine Constructions has won a contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to build two Arctic Security Cutters. The first two vessels will be built at the Rauma shipyard and completed in 2028, with construction starting immediately.
Bollinger Shipyards has named Commander Mark Matta, USCG (Ret.), as director of programs and Captain Peter Morisseau, USCG (Ret.), as Arctic Security Cutter program manager. The appointments come after the yard was selected to design and build six Arctic Security Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard with an international team using a Multi-Purpose Icebreaker design.
Bollinger Shipyards has been selected with Rauma Marine Constructions, Seaspan Shipyards and Aker Arctic Technology Inc. to design and build six U.S. Coast Guard Arctic Security Cutters. The first three vessels will be built simultaneously by Rauma in Finland and Bollinger in the United States, with the remaining three to be built in the United States.