Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc. (HPSI), headquartered in Philadelphia, joined TOTE Services, LLC in announcing their completion of a fourth National Security Multi-Mission Vessel, the LONE STAR STATE .
The companies delivered the vessel to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD), and it will be homeported at the Texas A&M Maritime Academy. It is the fourth of five vessels the two organizations are building for the federal government.
The ship will serve as a NSMV to modernize the training capabilities of the country’s state maritime academies, officials said. As Texas A&M Maritime Academy’s primary training ship, the vessel will prepare cadets for careers in the U.S. Merchant Marine and support federal humanitarian and disaster response missions. The ship will help address the shortage of qualified officers needed to crew government- and commercially-owned sealift ships, officials said.
“Delivering the LONE STAR STATE is a proud achievement for our shipbuilders, whose skill and dedication brought this important vessel to completion,” David Kim, CEO of HPSI, said. “We are honored to see it begin its service at Texas A&M Maritime Academy, where it will help prepare the next generation of mariners and support our nation when called upon.”
TOTE Services oversaw the design, construction, delivery and warranty phases of the shipbuilding project by serving as the NSMV program’s Vessel Construction Manager (VCM). Officials said the VCM model reduces government costs by at least 50 percent and accelerates delivery of mission-ready vessels while allowing the shipyard to focus on precision construction and quality shipbuilding.
“The delivery of LONE STAR STATE to the Texas A&M Maritime Academy marks another major milestone for the NSMV program,” Jeff Dixon, president of TOTE Services, said. “The LONE STAR STATE will do more than train the next generation of mariners – it will stand ready to answer the call from natural disasters to humanitarian relief needs. The success of the NSMV program and the VCM model behind it proves that government and industry can deliver complex ships on time, on budget, and without compromising quality. This is what the future of U.S. shipbuilding looks like.”