Bollinger to acquire Mississippi shipyards, Navy (APL(S)) program

Bollinger Shipyards announced Monday that it has reached a "definitive agreement" to acquire shipbuilders VT Halter Marine and ST Engineering Halter Marine Offshore from their parent company, ST Engineering North America.

The acquisition encompasses two active shipyards spanning 378 acres in Pascagoula, MS, as well as two more dormant yards. The yards have direct, deep-water access to the Gulf of Mexico, according to Bollinger’s announcement.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022. All the yard’s ongoing programs will be transferred to Bollinger, including the Navy’s Auxiliary Personnel Lighter-Small (APL(S)) program -- a series of mobile barges used to house sailors while ships are in port for maintenance.

Bollinger, the largest privately owned shipbuilder in the U.S., builds the Navy’s Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vessel (MCM USV) and Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ships (T-ATS). The company is contracted by General Dynamics Electric Boat to construct a floating drydock and pontoon launcher to support the Columbia-class submarine program.

The acquisition will also add the Coast Guard’s Polar Security Cutter program to Bollinger’s portfolio. The company already builds the Coast Guard’s Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter.

The new shipyards include 225,000 square feet of covered production area. The facilities are capable of producing Panamax-sized vessels, according to the announcement.

“This acquisition creates expanded opportunities for Bollinger to better serve and deepen its relationships with its key defense and commercial customers with an increased capacity and footprint, improved efficiencies, enhanced economies of scale, and access to a large skilled workforce, including increased engineering capacity,” the release states.