Halimar becomes part of unmanned vessel team

St. Mary Parish’s role in military vessel production is expanding again.
HII of Virginia has announced that Halimar Shipyard of Morgan City has joined its network of industrial partners for production of the Romulus unmanned surface vessel family.
Under the partnership, Halimar will construct complete Romulus 151 vessels and support serial production alongside Breaux Brothers Enterprises, where five Romulus 151 vessels are currently under construction, according to a press release statement.
Other connections between the military and St. Mary shipbuilders include Conrad’s construction of berthing vessels for the Navy, Metal Shark’s patrol vessels for U.S. and overseas governments, and Bollinger’s longstanding order for Coast Guard cutters.
“Our partnership with Halimar Shipyard represents another important step in building the industrial capacity needed to deliver autonomous maritime capability at scale,” said Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Mission Technologies division.
William Hidalgo Jr., executive vice president and CEO at Halimar Shipyard, said the company has decades of experience building vessels and will apply that expertise to the Romulus program.
The Romulus is a modular family of unmanned surface vessels designed to support missions including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, mine countermeasures and strike operations. The platform can launch and recover unmanned underwater and aerial vehicles.
HII’s distributed manufacturing approach involves multiple shipbuilders, fabricators and technology providers across the Gulf Coast. Partners include Breaux Brothers Enterprises, Bayou Metals and Sydney-based design firm Incat Crowther.
The company stated the partnership will expand production capacity and support demand from the U.S. Navy and allied maritime forces for autonomous systems. Halimar’s Gulf Coast location provides additional manufacturing capacity for the Romulus 151 platform.
HII describes itself as America’s largest military shipbuilder and states it is the largest producer of unmanned underwater vehicles for the U.S. Navy. The Virginia-based company has a workforce of 44,000 and commands a market capitalization of $11.49 billion.
Trading at $291.50, the stock has delivered a 17.59% return over the past year, though shares remain down 13.64% year-to-date.