PHILADELPHIA — The Hanwha Philly Shipyard on the Delaware River was the site July 17 for the christening of the TS LONE STAR STATE, a major training vessel for the Texas A&M University Maritime Academy and the fourth of five National Security Multi-Mission Vessels being built for America's state maritime academies.
What happened at the ceremony
The event drew academy leaders, the shipyard’s executives and federal and local officials who used the occasion to highlight a renewed focus on U.S. shipbuilding and maritime workforce development. The vessel will serve as a large training ship for the Texas A&M Maritime Academy after decades without a dedicated large training vessel for that school, academy leaders said.
Speakers included Col. Michael E. Fossum, vice president of Texas A&M University and superintendent of the Maritime Academy; Hanwha Philly Shipyard CEO David Kim; Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05); and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. They framed the christening as both a local industrial milestone for the Philadelphia shipyard and part of a larger, bipartisan effort to revive domestic shipbuilding capacity.
“When we look at this vessel, we must acknowledge the engine driving our merchant marine: our State Maritime Academies,” Secretary Duffy said, noting the academies’ importance in producing licensed officers.
Local and statewide stakes
For Philadelphia, the ceremony spotlights Hanwha Philly Shipyard’s role in producing modern vessels and sustaining shipbuilding jobs along the Delaware. For Pennsylvania and the wider region, the program links federal investment, private shipbuilding and state-supported maritime education.
- Training capacity: The TS LONE STAR STATE will provide at-sea training opportunities for cadets from Texas A&M’s maritime academy.
- Shipbuilding activity: The christening underscores the ongoing construction of a five-ship NSMV class at a Philadelphia facility.
- Policy and workforce: Officials framed the vessels as part of a bipartisan effort to rebuild domestic shipbuilding and to supply the merchant marine with licensed officers.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Vessel name | TS LONE STAR STATE |
| Ship class | National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) |
| Shipyard | Hanwha Philly Shipyard, Philadelphia |
| Academy | Texas A&M University Maritime Academy |
| Sequence | Fourth of five ships |
Officials said the NSMV program is intended to modernize training platforms for state maritime academies and to support a domestic shipbuilding base. At the ceremony, Hanwha’s chief executive, who has Texas ties, noted the pride in delivering another ship in the class and quipped about the new ship’s size relative to the others.
The christening also served as a public moment to appeal for continued cooperation among federal, state and private partners. For Philadelphia, the visible, large-scale work at Hanwha reinforces the city’s waterfront industrial footprint and the potential for more long-term employment tied to shipbuilding contracts and vessel maintenance.
As the NSMV program proceeds toward completion of the fifth ship, local officials and industry leaders will continue to point to the Philadelphia yard as an anchor site for the return of major U.S. commercial and training-vessel construction.
