Austal USA today announced it has been awarded a $128 million contract for the U.S. Navy’s auxiliary floating dry dock medium (AFDM), to be built in Mobile.
It’s Austal’s second steel vessel program with the Navy.
According to the company, the design incorporates features based on the company’s experiences with owning, operating, and maintaining a similar dry dock at its ship repair facility at the Austal West Campus in Mobile.
Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh said the Navy will get an “exceptional floating dry dock using our lean manufacturing approach.”
“Combined with our contract for the T-ATS program, the AFDM award is evidence of our expanding capability and focus on delivering a diverse portfolio of solutions to our customers, from combatants to dry docks,” Murdaugh said.
The AFDM has an 18,000 long ton lifting capacity, and a clear deck working area of 90,800 square feet.
The craft has an overall length of 694 feet, overall pontoon breadth of 157 feet, and a height of 65 feet from baseline to wing deck.
