Government funding amounting to nearly $20m has provided a boost to modernisation and improvement plans at small shipyards throughout the USA.
Awards mainly covering production equipment and system purchases at 24 businesses in 19 states have been made under the Small Shipyard Grant Program, overseen by the US Maritime Administration (MARAD). This year’s total allocation of $19.6m is on a par with the figure paid out to 31 companies in 2021 under the same scheme.
The latest tranche of support entails individual allocations ranging from some $294,000 to just over $1.2mn, albeit predominantly involving payments in excess of $600,000.
Projects at four yards have qualified for grants topping the $1m mark. Ice Floe LLC dba (‘doing business as’) Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Washington State has been awarded $1.234m to support the purchase and installation of a one-sided welder and associated material handling system, and Patti Marine Enterprises of Pensacola, Florida, will receive $1.2m to construct a new 800t drydock.
A plan for an electric blasting and painting facility at ST Engineering Halter Marine & Offshore (STEHMO) of Pascagoula, Mississippi, has been approved for $1.154m in funding, while $1.114m is going to Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Maryland for an array of purchases including a plasma table and 250t automated tooling computer numerical control (CNC) system.
First introduced in 2008, the grants are applicable to capital expenditure and equipment upgrades related to vessel construction, repair and reconfiguration, and also for training in technical skills leading to enhanced efficiency and productivity.
Allocations are limited to a maximum 75% of estimated costs and to yards with fewer than 1,200 production employees. A high proportion of the country’s smaller enterprises are family-run concerns, with limited financial capacity.
The programme has the broader aim of stimulating the manufacturing sector by leading to purchases of US-made equipment.
