Louisiana becoming a drone boat hot spot
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A depiction of Marauder, to be made at Saronic's new shipyard in Louisiana. Photo: Courtesy of Saronic
Louisiana shipbuilding has entered a new generation of high-tech construction, with autonomous vehicles, robotic ships and waterborne landing pads for spacecraft.
Why it matters: The state's already rich maritime history is getting richer —literally and figuratively.
The big picture: Both new and legacy Louisiana companies are investing in shipbuilding technology, says GNO Inc. CEO Michael Hecht.
- In April, Bollinger Shipyards scored a contract with a California-based aerospace company to create ocean landing platforms for its reusable rockets.
- The same month, Saronic bought Gulf Craft in Franklin, announcing it would use the shipyard to begin building 150-foot-long autonomous vessels (also known as drone boats). Louisiana-based Metal Shark and Chance Maritime are building them, too, and a Massachusetts startup just tapped Morgan City-based Conrad Shipyard for its own versions.
Between the lines: An executive order signed by President Trump last April is helping to juice the state's shipbuilding, Hecht says.
- That order was designed "to revitalize U.S. maritime industries," the White House says.
- "We used to make so many ships," Trump told Congress. "We don't make them anymore very much, but we're going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact."
Flashback: With its perch on the Gulf, Louisiana's long been a part of the nation's shipbuilding, both commercially and for the military, famously crafting the Higgins boats that helped the Allies score a key D-Day victory in World War II.
The bottom line: "We arguably have a competitive advantage in [shipbuilding] because we've been doing it for years, and we have military connections. ... So, when we look around the corner at what we should be genuinely excited about" for new economic opportunities, Hecht says, "shipbuilding is fairly real."