Organisation
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.
General Dynamics NASSCO christened and launched the USNS Thurgood Marshall (T-AO 211) in San Diego on 4 June. The ship is the seventh vessel in the U.S. Navy’s T-AO fleet oiler program and the fourth still under construction at the yard, which has already delivered five ships in the class.
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.
Austal USA hosted Christopher Miller, its new Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Maritime, at its Mobile, Alabama, facility on Thursday. He was briefed on Navy surface ship and submarine module production, toured the yard and saw Billy Franks Jr. (T-ATS 11) and Lansing (EPF 16), both due for sea trials this summer.
General Dynamics NASSCO christened and launched the USNS Sojourner Truth (T-AO 210) for the U.S. Navy on 25 April. The 746-foot fleet oiler is the sixth ship in the T-AO program and the first four ships in the class have already been delivered.