NEW: Austal Expansion on the way, bringing 1,000+ jobs to Mobile

American ship manufacturer based in Mobile, Austal USA, is getting a huge boost to their Alabama shipyard. The Mobile Chamber just broke ground on a second Final Assembly Building, a significant step to ensuring Austal USA can meet the needs of newer military contracts.

Read on for an overview of the expansion and why it’s important for the Mobile Bay area.

Austal expansion—at a glance

• What: Construction of a second Final Assembly building with three module construction bays
• Where: Taking up 4.5 acres south of the current facility
• How much: $288M in capital investments

The project, already underway, is set to increase indoor manufacturing space by 192,000 square feet and create 1,032 new jobs in Mobile.

Also on the docket for this endeavor? Waterfront improvements and the construction of a shiplift system to safely launch completed vessels.

Austal’s Mobile facility already spans 180 acres. When this project wraps up, Austal’s facilities in Mobile will include:

• A 117,000-square-foot steel panel line
• 2 module manufacturing facilities with more than 1M square feet of covered manufacturing space
• 7 assembly bays

Why it matters in Mobile

Austal is one of the largest employers in the City of Mobile, according to the Chamber. The company started in 1999 and has since blossomed, entering the steel shipbuilding market in 2021. That ensured Austal could secure high-budget military contracts, like a multi-billion dollar project to build Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) for the U.S. Coast Guard.

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