The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced Tuesday it had awarded grants totaling $20.8 million to 27 shipyards in 20 states to fund modernization efforts.
The grants, part of the Small Shipyard Grant Program, are intended to increase productivity and expand local job opportunities to help the shipyards compete in the global marketplace.
“Small shipyards strengthen America’s commercial fleet, bolster our economic security, and generate good jobs,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We are proud to support these shipyards [and] reinforce their vital role in the U.S. maritime sector.”
Three of California’s small shipyards will receive grants, the most in any one state. Bay Ship & Yacht Co. in Alameda, Calif., will receive $830,380 for a 165-ton Grove GRT 9165 crane, while Driscoll Boat Works, LLC in San Diego will receive $1 million for a 150-ton marine travelift, and Marine Group Boat Works in Chula Vista will get $1.14 million for the purchase of an 820-ton variable width marine travelift.
Other grant awardees include $214,452 for the Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc. in Mystic, Conn., for the purchase of a wood-mizer wide slab industrial sawmill and two HYBRID articulating boom lifts; $653,422 for Mike’s Inc. of South Roxana, Ill., on the Mississippi River, for a 30-ton rough terrain crane, telehandler, rack welder and tig stick arc reach; and $1.2 million for Southwest Shipyard of Channelview, Texas on the Mississippi River for blasting and painting equipment upgrades.
Since its inception, the MARAD Small Shipyard Grant Program has provided nearly 350 shipyards with more than $303 million, officials said.
“As shipbuilding technologies continue to advance, Small Shipyard Grants help America’s shipyards acquire the equipment they need to compete, thrive and expand America’s maritime industry,” Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips said. “These grants are also economic boosts to the communities in which shipyards are located as well as to our industrial supply chain.”