HII plans to acquire a South Carolina facility to bolster the main shipbuilding capacity for Newport News Shipbuilding, which has built submarines like New Jersey pictured here. (Janes/Michael Fabey)
HII officials detailed plans on 4 December to acquire South Carolina metal fabricator to boost shipbuilding capacity. They entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of W International SC and Vivid Empire SC, a South Carolina-based complex metal fabricator specialising in the manufacture of shipbuilding structures, modules, and assemblies.
The acquisition will help HII bolster its shipbuilding capacity, specifically to meet US Navy (USN) submarine and aircraft carrier construction requirements, including those needed to meet submarine-building commitments under the AUKUS agreements of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, according to Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) and executive vice-president of HII in Newport News, Virginia.
Initially, the South Carolina additions will be targeted to help with submarine production, but carrier production is also envisioned, Boykin told reporters on 4 December during a briefing about the acquisition.
HII and NNS have already taken measures to increase production and speed for its carriers and submarines.
For more information, please see HII to build two carriers in dry dock simultaneously for first time .
The South Carolina facility will be operated like a second smaller production line to the main production activities at the NNS yard in Virginia, she said.
The acquired assets include advanced production facilities with state-of-the-art equipment, tooling, and infrastructure used to fabricate complex metal modules and structures, and are located on a leased 45 acre site with more than 480,000 sq ft (44,593.4 m2) of manufacturing space, HII officials said.
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