VT Halter Marine, Inc. was a

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

company and an American subsidiary of

ST Engineering ST Engineering, is a global technology, defence and engineering group with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the aerospace, smart city, defence and public security segments. Headquartered in Singapore, the group reported a revenue of ov ...

. It was located in

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area, and is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi–Pascag ...

. It specialized in ship design and construction and served both public and private clients, including the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

History

Harold Halter and Jimmy Dubuisson started the original company known as Halter Marine in 1956 in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

; their first built vessel was a 26-foot pleasure boat. The original company would grow to employ more than 4,000 people at its height, but the decline of the offshore oil industry led Halter to sell the company to

Trinity Industries Trinity Industries Inc. is an American industrial corporation that owns a variety of businesses which provide products and services to the industrial, energy, transportation and construction sectors. Now, the company has five business groups, wh ...

in 1983, where it became part of Trinity Marine Group. In September 1996, Trinity spun off several bluewater shipyard assets as a separate company using the name Halter Marine Group, Inc. Friede Goldman International bought Halter Marine Group in 1999. The company was sold again to

(Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd) in 2003, where it began operating under the name VT Halter Marine Inc. In 2019, VT Halter was awarded a $1.9 billion contract by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

for the design and construction of new Polar Security Cutter heavy

icebreakers An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

. In November 2022,

Bollinger Shipyards Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels. Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas. Its drydocks range in capacity from vessels of 100 tons displacement to 22,000 t ...

agreed to buy Halter Marine and the adjacent ST Engineering Halter Marine Offshore for $15 million from parent

North America. The newly acquired shipyards was renamed to Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding and Bollinger Mississippi Repair respectively.

Safety

While working on an $87 million contract with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

to build the 350-foot

survey vessel A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the pu ...

USNS ''Maury'', renamed ''Marie Tharp'' in 2016, in 2009, unsafe working conditions led to an explosion that killed two employees and injured five others.VT Halter articles
2017-2020 from

Reveal (podcast) ''Reveal'' is a nationally broadcast public radio show and investigative reporting podcast hosted by Al Letson. The radio program is released on Saturdays on radio stations in the Public Radio Exchange network and the show is also available in ...

Center for Investigative Reporting The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) is a nonprofit news organization based in San Francisco, California. CIR was founded in 1977 as the nation’s first nonprofit investigative journalism organization. It subsequently grew into a multi ...

. Retrieved 26 December 2020. The company was fined $1.32 million by the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemp ...

for 17 willful and 11 serious violations, including willfully exposing workers to toxic fumes in a confined space. According to Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, the explosion "was a horrific and preventable situation. VT Halter Marine was aware of the hazards and knowingly and willfully sent workers into a confined space with an explosive and toxic atmosphere."

References

{{reflist Companies based in Mississippi American shipbuilders Defence companies of Singapore Former defense companies of the United States Industrial fires and explosions in the United States

History

Safety

See also

References