SECOND SUPERFERRY ON THE WAY
Austal USA Eyes New Project
MOBILE, Ala. – Austal USA is hoping to bring more military work to its Mobile shipyard by building vessels akin to the high-speed passenger-vehicle ferries it produces for commercial clients, said Bill Pfister, the company's vice president of government programs.
Pfister said Austal has a good chance of landing work through the Joint High Speed Vessel, or JHSV program.
Pfister said the program evolved out of the Army’s Theater Support Vessel program, which called for converted commercial high-speed ferries to carry troops, trucks, tanks, armored combat vehicles and guns over distances of 1,100 miles or less.
The JHSV would have a shallow draft, making it easy to use at the relatively shallow ports common in developing countries, according to information released by the U.S. Navy, the buying agent for the program....
The shipyard's approximately 900 workers are now building a littoral combat ship, or LCS, for the U.S. Navy and a second Hawai`i Superferry.
(Source - Mobile Press-Register - 3/2/07)
