The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has awarded more than $20 million in grant funding to 27 small shipyards through its Small Shipyard Grant Program (SSGP), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced May 3.
The funds went to small shipyards in 20 states to "help shipyards modernize, increase productivity, and expand local job opportunities while competing in the global marketplace," the DOT news release states. A "small" shipyard is a shipyard in only one geographic location and with no more than 1,200 production employees, the SSGP website states.
The funds are aimed at modernising and expanding the country's small shipyards as they strengthen the U.S.'s commercial fleet, bolster economic security and generate good jobs. Shipbuilding technology continues to advance, and small shipyards need the grants to acquire equipment to compete in the industry. This funding supports local shipyards and their surrounding communities as they acquire the necessary tools to expand.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
| transportation.gov/
“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,” MARAD Administrator Ann Phillips said in the news release. “These grants are also economic boosts to the communities in which shipyards are located as well as to our industrial supply chain.”
Grants range from $1.2 million, to Southwest Shipyard LP on the Mississippi River in Channelview, Texas, for blasting- and painting-equipment upgrades; to $86,649, to North Carolina Department of Transportation - Ferry Division, to support training and certification of employees in required disciplines to enhance productivity in vessel repairs, the release states.
The SSGP has since awarded $303 million to almost 350 shipyards in 32 states and territories since 2008, according to the news release.
"Small shipyards strengthen America's commercial fleet, bolster our economic security, and generate good jobs," Buttigieg said in the news release. "We are proud to support these shipyards reinforce their vital role in the U.S. maritime sector."
