Page 8: of Marine News Magazine (January 2012)

8MNJanuary 2012 INSIGHTSArguably the most recognizable name in American Shipbuilding, Donald ?Boysie? Bollinger has been inti- mately involved with shipyard issues for almost a half cen- tury. Without a doubt, his collective experience places him in the unique position to understand the shipbuild-ing industry in terms of where it has been, its current con- dition and more importantly, where the domestic version is headed next. Follow along as he weighs in as the New Year begins: Series Shipbuilding is arguably the key to real effi- ciency in the shipyard. How is your Sentinel class / FRC contract is going? Are you seeing improved metrics with each hull (costs, man-hours, deliverytimes)?As a shipbuilder with a long history of series production experience, we understand the dynamics and efficiencies of series production. The FRC program is on schedule and on budget with recent completion of builders trials and acceptance trials for hull number 1, BERNARD C. WEB- BER. Our efficiencies are in line with what we had expect- ed and planned for. As we move into a greater production rate in the future, we expect the results to continue to improve. As we see an uptick in business ? and business cli-mate ? how?s your backlog? Is the Coast Guard your biggest client ? and you, their most active boat-builder?Off and on over the last 30 years, the US Coast Guard has been our biggest customer. Depending upon stages of governmental and commercial contracts, our customer mix can vary significantly. As an active boatbuilder for the USCG, they have done larger valued programs with other shipyards (NSC) and more small boats with others (RBM). In the patrol boat category, we have built all patrol boats owned and operated by the USCG (WPB, CPB, FRC and PC). The next five years are critical for U.S. shipyards ? what should each do to position themselves andremain competitive? What are you doing? Every ?next five years? has been critical for US Shipyards (at least that has been true during my almost 50 years in the industry). The ?second tier? shipyards that do most of the US commercial work ? and more and more of the gov- ernment?s smaller vessels ? have continually recapitalized their facilities to become more efficient and effective. I think this will continue as we go into the future construc- tion of Jones Act Compliant vessels and also for certain foreign markets. Government business is critical to any U.S. shipyard, but the commercial work continues for some sec- tors. Where do you see growth in near term? Both are extremely important ? but not all shipyards have Donald?Boysie? BollingerChairman, President & CEO, Bollinger Shipyards MN#1 (1-17):MN 2011 Layouts 1/5/2012 3:52 PM Page 8