Mary-Louise Hoffman
The U.S. Navy has ordered a fifth towing, salvage and rescue vessel from Austal’s U.S. subsidiary by exercising a $71.8 million contract option under the Navajo-class shipbuilding program.
Austal USA expects to commence T-ATS 15 construction work in the first half of calendar year 2024 and aims to deliver the ship to the service branch in late 2027, the company said Monday.
The shipbuilder in Mobile, Alabama, received a $144.6 million initial award in late September 2021 to build T-ATS 11 and 12 vessels, while a separate $156.2 million award in July 2022 covered the procurement of an additional two in the series.
T-ATS 13 and 14 construction efforts are slated to begin in the second half of this year.
The Navy’s Navajo class has a common hull platform designed to tow heavy ships that can support search-and-rescue, humanitarian assistance, surveillance and oil spill response missions.
