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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.
Austal USA launched the Navy’s Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium 15 on July 28, sending the 12,000-ton vessel into the Mobile River. The yard said it is the first AFDM built in more than 40 years and the largest vessel launched into the Mobile Channel to date.
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.
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.