Vigor has laid the keel for the first Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) (MSV(L)) that the company is building for the US Army.
The aluminium-hulled vessel will be named SSG Elroy F. Wells in honour of Staff Sergeant Elroy Wells, a US Army watercraft crewman who was killed in action in the Vietnam War.
SSG Elroy F. Wells will have an LOA of 117 feet (35.6 metres), a moulded beam of 28 feet (8.6 metres), a crew of eight, a transport capacity of 82 tonnes, and three 2,600hp (1,938kW) main engines that will deliver a speed of 21 knots at full load.
Designed in partnership with BMT, the MSV(L)s will feature improved capabilities compared to the army's current LCM-8 landing craft.
