Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La., has been awarded a contract to build the Navy’s seventh Auxiliary Personnel Lighter–Small (APL 73) Class berthing and messing barge.
“We’re honored to be entrusted by the U.S. Navy to continue building these critical vessels that improve the quality of life for our sailors,” Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, said in a statement.
Bollinger delivered APL 70 and 71 to the Navy in 2022 and 2023, and is currently building APL 72. APLs are used by the Navy to house crewmembers when ships are in port for "availabilities and inter-deployment training cycles." Bollinger said that the shipyard tailors the barge’s mobility requirement into the design, ensuring they can be towed to new bases or shipyards to support changing fleet requirements. The APLs are also deployed for humanitarian missions and other temporary assignments.
The 269’x69’ APLs have a draft of 7’. Each vessel is equipped with offices, classrooms, washrooms, laundry facilities, medical treatment areas, a barber shop and fitness center. With mess seating for 224 enlisted personnel and 28 officers, each meal is served via five 20-minute shifts to allow food service for 1,130 personnel (three meals per day). The vessels are fitted with mixed-gender berthing spaces for 74 officers and 537 enlisted personnel, for a total of 611 people.
