founded 1999 headquarters 100 dunlap drive mobile alabama u.s. products aluminium commercial and defense vessels number of employees 4 000 1 parent austal website usa.austal.com austal usa is the american branch of operations for australian shipbuilder austal . the facility based on blakeley island in mobile alabama employed more than 3 100 workers in early 2012 and has since grown to a little over 4 000 employees and contractors as of 2016 . 1 2 3 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 . 1 contents 1 projects 2 legal 2.1 unionizing efforts 2.2 discrimination allegations 3 references 4 external links projects edit the alakai during sea trials in 2007 for hawaii superferry . 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 113 meters 371 feet long the new vessel is 6 meters 20 feet 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 . 4 austal usa is also currently constructing the independence class of littoral combat ships for the united states navy based on a 127 m 417 ft advanced trimaran seaframe with one completed and a second under construction as of 2010 . 5 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 . 6 uss independence lcs 2 at the austal usa shipyards along the mobile river in mobile alabama . 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 . 2 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 . 7 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 . 8 on december 10 2012 the navy awarded its final option under its current contract and ordered jhsv 10 . 9 on march 31 2015 austal usa signed a contract with us navy worth 691 million for two independence class ships . shipyard builds for the independence class is in mobile alabama . under this contract company plans to request three lcss per year through 2025 . austal usa also signed a contact for 10 joint high speed vessels jhsvs . one of them the trenton jhsv 5 completed acceptance trials march 13 and will shortly be delivered to the navy s military sealift command . 10 on may 2016 austal usa has been awarded a 18.5 million contract from the navy for the 12th expeditionary fast transport epf vessel . 11 legal edit unionizing efforts edit following complaints from the sheet metal workers international association smwia austal usa has twice been found to have engaged in unfair labor practices with respect to the organizing effort of unions by the national labor relations board . unionization had been rejected by employees in elections held in may 2002 and april 2008 . 12 a third attempt in august 2011 was again rejected with a vote of 613 against unionization to 367 for it . the smwia filed a new complaint with the labor board after the result . 13 discrimination allegations edit in march 2008 the company was sued by 22 employees for alleged racial discrimination and a hostile work environment . 14 the company was found not guilty in separate discrimination trials that culminated in october 2011 and january 2012 . a request for a new discrimination trial was rejected in march 2012 by a federal court . 15 after appeals seven of the plaintiffs were allowed to proceed to trial . juries found in favor of austal usa in april 2015 16 references edit a b c april m. havens march 16 2012 . austal usa receives 2 more contracts to build littoral combat ships for navy . al.com . retrieved may 7 2012 . a b wilkinson kaija november 13 2008 . austal in mobile wins 1.6 b navy contract . al.com . archived from the original on december 3 2008 . retrieved november 13 2008 . employment at austal usa . austal corporate website . retrieved december 3 2007 . austal built hawaii superferry to feature on national geographic . austal corporate website . archived from the original on 23 october 2007 . retrieved december 3 2007 . austal wins second littoral combat ship order . austal corporate website . archived from the original on december 14 2007 . retrieved december 3 2007 . finch ii michael march 17 2015 . navy secretary ray mabus urges lawmakers not to slow production of littoral combat ships . al.com . retrieved march 20 2015 . finance news network interview with austal ltd asx asb ceo bob browning keel laying ceremony for spearhead jhsv . maritime news . retrieved july 23 2010 . navy exercises tenth jhsv construction option . . marine log . retrieved december 10 2012 . flurry of contracts spark us navy shipbuilding . retrieved 11 august 2016 . sam lagrone may 5 2016 . austal usa awarded long lead contract for 12th epf . usni news . united states naval institute . retrieved 1 september 2016 . murtaugh dan . union gets third shot at austal workers . press register june 5 2011 . murtaugh dan august 17 2011 . austal union election result contested by sheet metal workers . press register . retrieved may 7 2012 . murtaugh dan austal race claims must go to trial federal judge rules . press register april 27 2011 . kirby brendan march 26 2012 . judge denies request for new trial in austal discrimination case . press register . retrieved may 7 2012 . toner casey april 2 2015 . austal did not tolerate racial harassment juries rule . al.com . retrieved april 3 2015 . external links edit austal usa website coordinates 30 41 32 n 88 01 59 w 30.69214 n 88.03298 w 30.69214 ; 88.03298 v t e mobile alabama history timeline of mobile history of mobile mobile in the civil war africatown alabama drydock and shipbuilding company battle of fort blakely battle of mobile bay battle of spanish fort brookley air force base clotilde mobile magazine explosion old mobile site culture azalea trail maids bayfest mardi gras in mobile mobile arts council mobile civic center mobile opera mobile symphony orchestra mystic society people from mobile popular culture saenger theatre economy mobile aeroplex at brookley port of mobile mobile downtown airport mobile regional airport austal usa bae systems southeast shipyards continental motors inc. signal international st aerospace mobile volkert inc. education k 12 mobile county pss davidson high leflore magnet high murphy high baker high unincorporated area alabama school of mathematics and science faith academy mcgill toolen catholic high st. paul s episcopal school tertiary bishop state community college spring hill college university of mobile university of south alabama geography airport boulevard blakeley island dog river fowl river government street mobile bay mobile river mobile tensaw river delta old shell road pinto island spanish river spring hill toulminville green spaces bellingrath gardens and home bienville square cathedral square langan park mobile botanical gardens historic sites national register of historic places listings in mobile ahavas chesed cemetery boyington oak duffie oak cathedral basilica of the immaculate conception catholic cemetery church street graveyard magnolia cemetery sha arai shomayim cemetery museums battleship memorial park uss alabama and uss drum fort conde mobile carnival museum mobile museum of art museum of mobile national african american archives and museum oakleigh historic complex richards dar house structures tallest buildings in mobile rsa battle house tower rsa banktrust building renaissance riverview plaza hotel mobile government plaza mobile marriott regions bank building wachovia building providence hospital van antwerp building the battle house hotel mayors list of mayors of mobile sandy stimpson sam jones mike dow arthur r. outlaw lambert c. mims joseph n. langan charles s. trimmier henry r. luscher charles f. hackmeyer charles a. baumhauer george washington owen major media lagniappe mod mobilian press register wfna 55 wkrg 5 wpmi 15 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title austal usa & oldid 738390257 categories companies based in mobile alabamashipbuilding companies of australiashipbuilding companies of the united statesdefense companies of the united statesvehicle manufacturing companies established in 19991999 establishments in alabamahidden categories coordinates not on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage 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