Austal USA held a combined groundbreaking ceremony yesterday to celebrate the start of work on three new facilities including Phase 2 of the Modular Manufacturing Facility (MMF), a new office complex, and an additional waterfront assembly bay.
The ceremony was held at Austal USA's shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, where construction is underway on the US Navy's Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme and the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) programme.
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said that the expansion at Austal will increase the number of employees to 3,600, up from 2,000 currently.
The Phase 2 MMF project will double the existing manufacturing floor space to 65,000 square metres and add 2,800 square metres of office space. When complete, the facility will be capable of constructing six large aluminium vessels such as the Navy's LCS or JHSV per year.
Assembly Bay 5 will be constructed south of the mid yard breakroom adjacent to Assembly Bay 4 where 'Coronado' (LCS 4) is currently being constructed. It will have 5,500 square metres of floor space, and will be similar to that of the existing Assembly Bays 3 and 4, with the ability to join with the future expansion of Assembly Bay 6.
