A Gulf coast Alabama company just signed an $8 million dollar contract to design and build boats for the Navy and Coast Guard. Options could sweeten that deal to almost $52 million. A list of Pentagon contracts released on Friday says Silver Ships Incorporated, based in the city of Theodore, was awarded the contract on Thursday for up to one hundred and ten boats. They're identified as Surface Support Craft and Coast Guard Special Purpose Craft Law Enforcement Generation II. Silver Ships was among four bidders for the contract. The work is expected to be completed in August 2023. Alabama’s Gulf coast shipbuilder Austal also produces Littoral coastal combat vessels for the U.S. Navy. APR news spoke with Dave Rogers, Vice President for Development for the Mobile Chamber. He said, at that time, four thousand jobs have been generated by the Austal Company which builds the littoral ships...
“I’ve been out there in the Gulf of Mexico fishing, and they’re out there test driving one of those ships. And I can tell you, you don’t want to be on the other end of one of those ships. That is…one of the meanest looking ships that is approaching you out there.
The Littoral craft also generated controversy at that time over mechanical issues. This year, the city of Mobile staged a “Tardy Gras” celebration to observe the christening of the Littoral craft called the U.S.S. Mobile.
