Saronic expansion moves ahead

Staff report
The placement of a final structural beam last week marked an important step toward completing Saronic’s expansion, St. Mary Parish Economic Development said.
The expansion at the Franklin-area shipyard, first announced in April 2025 at the former Gulf Craft site, will add more than 300,000 square feet to Saronic’s existing shipyard, including three new slips, expanded warehouse space, and a dedicated production line for its autonomous vessels.
“With 1,500 jobs projected as part of the expansion, this investment represents an exciting opportunity for our parish,” according to St. Mary Economic Development’s Facebook page. “The project is helping strengthen our maritime industry while bringing new jobs and continued economic growth to the area.”
The St. Mary site will be home to production of Saronic's 180-foot Marauder autonomous vessel.
In May 2025, the Navy awarded more than $390 million in work to Saronic for construction of autonomous unmanned vessels.
The jobs to be created in St. Mary Parish will reportedly have an average salary of $88,000.
A Saronic un-crewed vessel played a starring role in the rescue of two U.S. military aviators June 9 after their Apache attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz. The aviators were rescued by a Saronic Corsair, a 24-foot vessel that can reach a top speed of 35 mph with a range of at least 1,000 nautical miles.
The Saronic expansion is part of an upsurge in military projects at St. Mary shipyards that is fueling hopes for an economic revival.
After a decade of employment losses and an even longer period of population decline, St. Mary’s unemployment rate stood at 4.5% in July, the latest month available from Louisiana Workforce Commission.
That was down from 5.5% in June, although the drop seems to have to do less with new jobs than with declining workforce participation.
The number of employed St. Mary people was 17,798 in July, down from 17,910 in June. The number of people in the workforce, those working or seeking employment, fell by 230 to 18,719.
Still, economic development gains continue across south Louisiana.
Black Bayou Energy Hub LLC announced a $1.6 billion investment to expand its Lafayette headquarters and develop critical natural gas infrastructure in Cameron Parish, strengthening Louisiana’s growing LNG corridor and supporting increasing demand from LNG exporters, power generators, utilities and manufacturers.
Hyundai Steel plans to open a hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel manufacturing plant in Donaldsonville. The company, which is Hyundai Motor Group’s steelmaking arm, will invest $5.8 billion into the project, creating 1,300 direct positions.
Baton Rouge-based Turner Industries announced in April that it will create 1,000 jobs at state-of-the-art nuclear fabrication facilities in New Iberia and Port Allen.
The SpaceX “Starbase Louisiana” in Vermilion Parish is anticipated to attract $100 billion in investment, creating 3,000 direct aerospace jobs.