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Contract for 2 NOAA research ships awarded to Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, LLC

NOAA will add two new ships to its fleet of groundbreaking research vessels. The agency selected Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, LLC. for a $624.6 million contract to initially design and build two cutting-edge research vessels, with an option to purchase two more. The first two ships will be built in Houma, Louisiana, with an expected delivery date of 2027 and 2028.

NOAA Ship Fairweather

Keel-laying ceremony held for new oceanographic research ship Discoverer

NOAA, the U.S. Navy and Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors (TMC), LLC., held a keel-laying ceremony today in Houma, Louisiana, for Discoverer, a new oceanographic research vessel being built for NOAA. The keel-laying ceremony marks the beginning of a ship’s construction. Second Gentleman Douglas C. Emhoff was named the ship’s sponsor.
A welder working on a metal plate while a group of people look on