Small Shipyard Grant Applications Due February 25

The clock is ticking for small shipyards hoping to receive funding from a popular Department of Transportation Maritime Administration grant program. Applications for the 2021 installment of the Small Shipyard Grant Program are due February 25.

The Small Shipyard Grant Program received $20 million in funding, with $19.6 million available for grants, through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which was signed into law December 27, 2020. By statute, the deadline for submitting an application for the grant is 60 days following the enactment of the law, which is February 25. Likewise, the statute establishing the grant program requires award recipients to be announced within 120 days from the enactment of the funding law, no later than April 26.

Since it was first funded in 2008, the Small Shipyard Grant Program has awarded 268 grants, with a funding total close to $243 million.

The grant program allows for awards up to $1 million to be used for capital and related improvements for small shipyards. Projects must be aimed at “fostering efficiency, competitive operations and quality ship construction, repair and reconfiguration.” The program stipulates that grants may not be used to construct buildings or facilities or to acquire land. Grant proposals, though, may include funding maritime training programs “to foster technical skills and operational productivity.” The grant may provide a maximum of 75 percent of the cost of the project.

Eligible shipyards include those with no more than 1,200 employees that construct, repair or reconfigure commercial vessels 40 feet long or greater, or those that build or repair non-commercial vessels 100 feet long or greater.

For more information, go to grants.gov and search for “DTMASSG21.”