Navy Awards 7th Berthing Barge Contract To Bollinger

Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards has announced it has been awarded a contract to build the U.S. Navy’s seventh Auxiliary Personnel Lighter-Small (APL 73) class berthing and messing barge. The contract award is for a fixed-price option for the detail design and construction of the vessel.

“We’re honored to be entrusted by the U.S. Navy to continue building these critical vessels that improve the quality of life for our sailors,” said Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards. “We take great pride in every single vessel we build and deliver to the U.S. Navy. This contract reflects the relentless work ethic of our skilled workforce and their commitment to upholding the highest levels of quality and craftsmanship that our company was founded on and, 78-years later, remains dedicated to.”

Bollinger delivered APL 70 and 71 to the U.S. Navy in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and is currently building APL 72. APLs are used by the Navy to house crew members when ships are in port for availabilities and inter-deployment training cycles. Bollinger tailors the barge’s mobility requirement into the design, ensuring the barge can be towed to new bases or shipyards to support changing fleet requirements. Such mobility offers additional capabilities to serve humanitarian missions and other temporary assignments.

APLs measure 269 feet long and 69 feet wide and have a draft of 7 feet. Each vessel is equipped with offices, classrooms, washrooms, laundry facilities, medical treatment areas, a barber shop and a fitness center. With mess seating for 224 enlisted personnel and 28 officers, each meal is served via five 20-minute shifts to allow food service for 1,130 personnel (three meals per day). The vessels are fitted with mixed-gender berthing spaces for 74 officers and 537 enlisted personnel, for a total of 611 people.

Bollinger Shipyards is a designer and builder of military patrol boats and salvage vessels, research vessels, ocean-going double-hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tugboats, rigs, lift boats, inland towboats, barges, and other steel and aluminum vessels, all from it’s 13 shipyards scattered across Louisiana and Mississippi.

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Featured photo caption: APL-71, which Bollinger Shipyards delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Bollinger Shipyards)