Builders mark milestone in Saronic expansion

JE Dunn Construction and Alberici Constructors Inc. celebrated the topping out – placing the final structural beam – of Saronic Technologies’ $300 million shipyard expansion project in St. Mary Parish.
Saronic will use the expanded Franklin shipyard to increase production capacity for its fleet of Marauders – the company’s 180-foot fully autonomous ships – and strengthen the Gulf Coast’s role in the future of American maritime innovation in the process.
The Saronic expansion, with its projected 1,500 jobs, is the centerpiece of St. Mary economic development efforts.
“Topping out this advanced maritime facility marks a significant milestone,” said Drew Cain, vice president and project executive at JE Dunn, in a press release. “This expansion represents the promising future for the industry, built with new and innovative technologies that only modern manufacturing can deliver. It is a tremendous honor for the JE Dunn | Alberici joint venture to build a facility that will fundamentally reshape American shipbuilding.” 
The project broke ground in November 2025 and is expected to be completed in early 2027. The JE Dunn-Alberici joint venture is adding more than 300,000 square feet to the existing footprint, including three new slips, expanded warehouse capacity and a dedicated production line for Saronic’s Marauder vessels.
 “Reaching this milestone reflects the exceptional collaboration and precision required to deliver a complex, large-scale shipyard facility on an accelerated schedule,” said Aaron Walsh, vice president and market leader at Alberici. 
“Having the structural steel fabricated by Hillsdale Fabricators, an Alberici company, strengthened coordination among design, fabrication and field installation to ensure agility with design and accelerating schedule.”
 Timely decision making by Saronic has also enabled the team to align quickly with solutions and keep construction moving. The project reached a peak workforce of 200 craft professionals, engineers and project leaders. 
“Franklin is central to how Saronic is scaling the next generation of American shipbuilding,” said Doug Lambert, co-founder and chief operating officer at Saronic. “This expansion brings together modern infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and a growing skilled workforce to increase production capacity and deliver autonomous ships at scale.
“Our partners have moved with tremendous speed to bring this facility to life, demonstrating what’s possible when we work together with urgency and a shared commitment to strengthening the American maritime industrial base.”