Alabama-based naval shipbuilder opens new steel facility
US naval shipbuilder Austal USA has opened a new steel manufacturing facility near the company's headquarters in Mobile, Alabama.
Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh said the addition of the steel capability to the existing aluminium shipbuilding capability will allow the company to better support the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, and other customers with high-quality vessels.
The 117,000-square-foot (10,870-square-metre) manufacturing addition will house the latest state-of-the-art computerised and robotic steel processing equipment to handle all of the current and future demands of the US Navy and the US Coast Guard. A 60,000-square-foot (5,570-square-metre) stock yard will meanwhile be utilised for handling the raw steel and a 19,500-square-foot (1,810-square-metre) paint facility will provide the ability to paint and blast simultaneously in two separate cells, or both cells can be combined providing the ability to paint super-modules.
Austal USA's new steel facility was completed as part of a US$100 million investment.