Bollinger Shipyards delivered the first Auxiliary Personnel Lighter–Small (APL(S)) Class berthing and messing barge (APL-71) to the Navy last week, the first such craft since the company acquired contract winner VT Halter Marine.
The company said this is the fifth APL(S) to be delivered to the service and third that will be homeported at Norfolk, Va.
The previous four similar berthing barges were built and delivered by VT Halter Marine. Bollinger, based in Lockport, La., finished its acquisition of VT Halter Marine in late 2022, adding two shipyards near the Gulf of Mexico in Mississippi (Defense Daily, Nov. 14, 2022).
Halter previously received the contract for APLs in 2018, with construction occurring at the Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard.
The Navy uses the APLs to house crewmembers when a ship is in port for availabilities and inter-deployment training cycles. These craft can be towed to different bases and shipyards as requirements change or be used for humanitarian missions.
These APLs are 269 feet long, 69 feet long and have a draft of seven feet. They all include offices, classrooms, washrooms, laundry facilities, medical treatment areas and mess seating for 224 enlisted personnel and 28 officers. The berthing spaces can hold 611 people.
“We are honored to be entrusted to build the APL berthing and messing barge for the U.S. Navy,” said Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, said in a statement.
“We look forward to continuing to grow our partnership with the Navy and delivering this critical asset to support our national defense,” he added.
Last April, Bollinger announced the Navy awarded it the detailed design and construction contract for the sixth Auxiliary Personnel Lighter–Small (APL(S)) 67 Class berthing and messing barge. Construction for that craft was expected to start in the second quarter of 2023 at the former VT Halter Marine yard in Pascagoula.