Bollinger Holds Steel Cutting Ceremony for T-ATS 10

Left to right: Capt. Nate Schneider, Commander, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion & Repair, Gulf Coast; Capt. John Ferguson, USN-Ret. & Representative of Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Rob Mullins, VP Program Management at Bollinger Houma Shipyards; Chris Remont, EVP and General Manager at Bollinger Mississippi Shipyards (Photo: Bollinger Shipyards)

Bollinger Shipyards last week officially commenced construction of the U.S. Navy’s future USNS Muscogee Creek Nation, at Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. The vessel is the 10th Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship (T-ATS) and the fifth T-ATS vessel being constructed by Bollinger since acquiring the program in April of 2021.

“We’re excited to be able to utilize our newly acquired facility in Pascagoula to maximize our mobility and efficiency on the T-ATS program as we officially kick off construction on the fifth of five T-ATS ships to be built by Bollinger,” said Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards. “The T-ATS program is an important part of our expanding portfolio and relationship with the Navy as we work to support critical fleet modernization efforts. Maximizing Bollinger Shipyards resources across the Gulf Coast is something we’re incredibly proud of. This program sustains jobs in both our facilities between Houma and Pascagoula.”

The Navajo-class provides oceangoing tug, salvage, and rescue capabilities to support fleet operations, and are tasked with coming to the aid of stricken vessels. Their general mission capabilities include combat salvage, lifting, towing, retraction of grounded vessels, off-ship firefighting, and manned diving operations. The T-ATS platform replaces and fulfills the capabilities that were previously provided by the Powhatan-class Fleet Ocean Tug (T-ATF 166) and Safeguard-class Rescue and Salvage Ships (T-ARS 50) class ships.

Named for the Muscogee Creek Nation, the ship honors the self-governed Native American tribe located in Okmulgee, Okla. The Muscogee people are descendants of not just one tribe, but a union of several. Muscogee Creek Nation is the largest of the federally recognized Muscogee tribes, which is the fourth largest tribe in the U.S. with more than 86,000 citizens – some of which have or continue to serve across the U.S. Armed Forces. This will be the first Navy vessel to carry the name Muscogee Creek Nation.

In addition to T-ATS 10, Bollinger is constructing USNS Navajo (T-ATS 6), USNS Cherokee Nation (T-ATS 7), USNS Saginaw Ojibwe Anishinabek (T-ATS 8) and the USNS Lenni Lenape (T-ATS 9).