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Austal USA is the American branch of operations for Australia-based shipbuilder Austal. The facility is based on Blakeley Island in Mobile, Alabama and employed more than 3,100 workers in early 2012.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work="Austal Corporate Website" )〕 Due to expanded shipbuilding contracts from the United States Navy, the company announced in March 2012 that it planned to invest an additional $160 million in upgrades to its facilities and to increase its workforce to roughly 4,000 employees in the next few years.〔 ==Projects== The company built the ''Lake Express'' for service across Lake Michigan, and the ''Alakai'' for Hawaii Superferry. ''Huakai'', the second high-speed vehicle-passenger catamaran for Hawaii Superferry has been launched at Austal USA. At long, the new vessel is longer than the ''Alakai'', thanks to a bi-fold ramp, added by Austal to its stern, for use in austere ports without shore-side loading facilities, making it suitable for military use. The National Geographic Channel series ''MegaStructures'' featured an episode in September 2007 that detailed the construction, launch, and sea trials of the ''Alakai'', the first catamaran Hawaii Superferry. Austal USA is also currently constructing the ''Independence'' class of littoral combat ships for the United States Navy, based on a advanced trimaran seaframe, with one completed and a second under construction as of 2010. In March 2015, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus testified before Congress that the Navy intends to purchase a total of 52 the vessels. The final 20 will be upgraded with new capabilities. The cost of each ship is about $350 million. It was announced on November 13, 2008 that Austal USA had won a U. S. Navy contract to build ten high-speed transport ships, known as the Spearhead class Joint High Speed Vessel. The design, with a catamaran seaframe, is drawn from the Austal-built MV ''Westpac Express''. Unlike the Littoral Combat Ship, the Joint High Speed Vessel will be for transport, not combat.〔 The bankruptcy of Hawaii Superferry, and the construction problems on their first Littoral Combat Ship reduced Austal's profit margin to only $9.2 million on revenue of $500 million in 2009.〔(FINANCE NEWS NETWORK INTERVIEW WITH AUSTAL LTD (ASX:ASB) CEO, BOB BROWNING )〕 On July 22, 2010, Austal USA hosted a keel-laying ceremony at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama to signify the erection of the first modules on USAV ''Spearhead'' (JHSV 1), lead ship in the 10-ship Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program, The JHSV program has a potential worth of over $1.6 billion for the company.〔("Keel Laying Ceremony for Spearhead JHSV." ) ''Maritime News''. Retrieved July 23, 2010.〕 On December 10, 2012, the navy awarded its final option under its current contract, and ordered JHSV-10. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Austal USA」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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