Hanwha Philly Shipyard recently announced the completion of keel laying for the fifth and final U.S. National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV).
The NSMV program was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) to create a training platform for the U.S. to develop the next generation of crews to address the critical shortage of U.S. government and commercial vessel crews, while supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions when needed.
The NSMV program is said to be a great boost to the U.S. shipbuilding industry, which provides nearly 400,000 jobs around the country. With a length of 159.85m, a width of 27.00m, a depth of 7.50m, and a deadweight of 8,487 tons, the vessel can accommodate 600 trainees and 100 trainers, and is equipped with state-of-the-art training facilities, a fully-equipped bridge, and the ability to accommodate as many as six hundred trainees and one hundred instructors.
According to Hanwha Philly Shipyard, the project uses the Vessel Construction Management (VCM) model to optimize the design and construction process and shorten the construction cycle by integrating advanced experience in the commercial sector. All five NSMVs have had their keels laid in the past 39 months. The first two, Empire State and Patriot State, were delivered in September 2023 and 2024, respectively, and the third is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2025.
Seventy percent of new crew members in the U.S. graduate from various state maritime academies each year. These five NSMVs will gradually replace the outdated training vessels of the State University of New York Maritime College, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Maine Maritime Academy, Texas A&M Maritime Academy, and California State University Maritime Academy. They will be uniformly operated and managed by MARAD.
The predecessor of Hanwha Philly Shipyard is Philly Shipyard, which was acquired by Hanwha Group for $100 million last year. Philly Shipyard is one of the largest shipyards in the U.S. and has delivered approximately 50% of the large commercial vessels compliant with the Jones Act since 2000.