Philly Shipyard Cuts Steel for Maine Maritime’s Next Training Ship

Philly Shipyard has minimize first metal for Maine Maritime Academy’s subsequent coaching vessel, the longer term T/S State of Maine – the most recent in an extended line of ships to bear the title.

The ceremony Monday marks the subsequent milestone for the Maritime Administration’s Nationwide Safety Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) coaching ship program, administered by TOTE Companies. The five-ship sequence will provide new coaching vessels to SUNY Maritime, Maine Maritime, Mass Maritime, Texas A&M and Cal Maritime, changing growing older coaching vessels of the Prepared Reserve Pressure. 

Like their predecessors, the NSMVs shall be convertible for disaster-relief use, and they’re constructed with a helipad, medical amenities, additional berthing and a ro/ro ramp to accommodate that mission. 

“We have reached a historic milestone with the chopping of metal for this ship,” stated TOTE Companies president Jeff Dixon. “We’re grateful for the widespread, bipartisan assist the NSMV program has acquired.”

MARAD awarded TOTE a contract to handle the vessel procurement program in Could 2019. In April 2020, TOTE awarded the design/construct contract to Philly Shipyard, which had lately run by way of the final of its business shipbuilding backlog. Philly rehired employees for the NSMV program, and it minimize metal for the primary ship within the sequence final month. All 5 vessels are funded, and NSMV is predicted to assist 1,200 jobs at Philly Shipyard for years to come back. 

“Simply over two years in the past, we acquired the preliminary order from TOTE Companies for 2 NSMVs which formally ended our manufacturing hole and breathed new life into our shipyard,” stated Steinar Nerbovik, President and CEO of Philly Shipyard. “Right now, we proudly minimize metal on a vessel destined for the docks of Maine Maritime and add a 3rd ship to the lively manufacturing strains inside our yard.”

In partnership with Philly, South Korean naval structure home DSEC oversaw the element design for the sequence. DSEC – a significant participant in U.S.-built service provider ship design, with credit like Matson’s Kanaloa-class and TOTE’s Marlin-class – chosen GE to construct the NSMV’s energy methods and engines in the USA.