Jacksonville-based maritime business Tote Services LLC has landed a $2.2 billion contract to oversee construction of a new line of U.S. Navy troop transport ships.
The first Medium Landing Ship (LSM) from the vessel construction management agreement is expected to be completed by fall 2029, the Navy said in a July 13 release.
Lockport, La.-headquartered Bollinger Shipyards will build one LSM while four more will come from Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the Wisconsin shipbuilder that manufactured Naval Station Mayport’s Freedom-class littoral combat ships.
Tote “will have the flexibility to determine the best award strategy for up to three additional vessels,” the Navy said.
“We’re taking a proven design and leveraging congressional authorities to move with urgency and approach shipbuilding differently,” the release quoted Christopher Miller, the head of the Navy’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive Maritime, the service’s central office responsible for obtaining surface ships.
“Tote Services will be an important partner, and we’re excited to work with them to continue the momentum on this program and begin bending steel.”
Tote Services President Jeff Dixon called the contract “a tremendous responsibility and a defining moment for American shipbuilding, the VCM model, and TOTE Services.”
A Tote announcement said the LSM initiative “comes at a critical moment for American shipbuilding. The United States needs to build ships faster, strengthen domestic industrial capacity, and create more reliable demand for the shipyards, suppliers, manufacturers, and skilled trades that national readiness depends on.
“The program also directly supports Marine Corps readiness and Navy and Marine Corps modernization by helping Marines move and sustain forces in contested coastal and island environments. As a multi-ship program, LSM can help create the production rhythm the U.S. industrial base needs to plan, build, and deliver ships with greater efficiency.”
LSM, which the Navy once called light amphibious warships, are planned for implementing a new Marine Corps concept called expeditionary advanced base operations, or EABO, according to a report circulated to Congress in January.
“The EABO concept was developed with an eye toward potential conflict scenarios with China in the Western Pacific,” said the Congressional Research Service report.
“Under the concept, the Marine Corps envisions … having reinforced-platoon-sized Marine Corps units maneuver around the theater, moving from island to island, to fire anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and perform other missions so as to contribute, alongside Navy and other U.S. military forces, to U.S. operations to counter and deny sea control to Chinese forces. The LSMs would be instrumental to these operations, with LSMs embarking, transporting, landing, and subsequently reembarking these small Marine Corps units.”
Although commonly known in Jacksonville for its role operating commercial vessels, Tote also works in maritime construction management, including overseeing what the U.S. Transportation Department dubbed its National Security Multi-Mission Vessel initiative to build training ships for state-run maritime academies.
The Navy’s contract announcement touted the contract manager role, called VCM, as an “innovative shift” in its shipbuilding efforts.
“We are changing the way we do business, and leveraging commercial best practices to improve cost, schedule, and performance,” the announcement quoted Will Mahan, performing the duties of assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. “With a five-month duration between RFP [request for proposals] release and contract award, we achieved a nearly 50% reduction to traditional contracting timelines.”
This story was updated to add a rendering of the Navy’s Medium Landing Ship.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville’s Tote gets $2.2B deal to manage building new Navy ships
Reporting by Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
