VT Halter Marine


VT Halter Marine, Inc. is a shipbuilding company and an American subsidiary of ST Engineering. It is located in Pascagoula, Mississippi. It specializes in ship design and construction and serves both public and private clients, including the United States Department of Defense.

History

Harold Halter and Jimmy Dubuisson started the original company known as Halter Marine in 1956 in New Orleans; their first built vessel was a 26-foot pleasure boat. The original company would grow to employ more than 4,000 people at its height, but the decline of the offshore oil industry led Halter to sell the company to Trinity Industries in 1983, where it became part of Trinity Marine Group.
In September 1996, Trinity spun off several bluewater shipyard assets as a separate company using the name Halter Marine Group, Inc. Friede Goldman International bought Halter Marine Group in 1999. The company was sold again to Singapore Technologies Engineering in 2003, where it began operating under the name VT Halter Marine Inc.

Safety

In June 2020, Halter Marine was awarded the . Each year, AEU recognizes the best safety and health programs among the members of the American Longshore Mutual Association.
Eligibility for the awards is based on the frequency and severity of workers’ compensation incidents for the 2019 calendar year, as well as safety-related metrics determined by AEU’s loss control team. The AEU’s safety award is based on very specific, measurable data, and it is tough competition.
While working on an $87 million contract with the United States Navy to build a 350-foot ship in 2009, unsafe working conditions led to an explosion that killed two employees and injured five others. The company was fined $1.32 million by the United States Department of Labor for 17 willful and 11 serious violations, including willfully exposing workers to toxic fumes in a confined space. According to Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, the explosion "was a horrific and preventable situation. was aware of the hazards and knowingly and willfully sent workers into a confined space with an explosive and toxic atmosphere."

Current

In 2019, VT Halter was awarded a $1.9 billion contract by the United States Coast Guard for the design and construction of new cutting edge polar heavy icebreakers for the American fleet.