TOTE Services and Hanwha Philly Shipyard have delivered Lone Star State, the fourth of five national security multi-mission vessels (NSMV), to the US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration.
The vessel will be homeported at Texas A&M Maritime Academy, where it will serve as the institution's primary training ship.
The vessel is intended to address a shortage of qualified officers for government and commercial sealift vessels while also supporting federal humanitarian and disaster response operations.
It is scheduled to arrive in Galveston, Texas, in November for a formal handover and will begin its first sea term in April 2027.
TOTE Services served as vessel construction manager, overseeing the design, construction, delivery and warranty phases. The company said the commercial procurement approach is intended to reduce government acquisition costs by at least 50 per cent compared with traditional shipbuilding methods.
Maritime Administrator Stephen M. Carmel said the vessel would support training for the US maritime workforce.
The 159.85-metre vessel can accommodate up to 600 cadets for at-sea training and includes instructional spaces, a training bridge, hospital facilities, a helicopter pad and storage for disaster relief supplies. It can accommodate up to 1,000 people during humanitarian emergencies.
Lone Star State has a maximum speed of 18 knots and a deadweight tonnage of 8,487. The vessel has a draft of 7.5 metres, a breadth of 27 metres and berthing capacity for up to 760 people.