Another important milestone in the development of Austal USA was achieved on January 18 with the successful launch of Hull 615, a 107 metre high speed vehicle-passenger catamaran for Hawaii Superferry.
The impressive launch process was watched by a large local crowd given Austal USA’s location opposite the city centre in downtown Mobile, Alabama. The day began with a floating drydock being secured to the Austal sea wall on the Mobile River in front of the assembly bay. After ensuring that the drydock was properly aligned and secured the process of rolling the ferry out onto the drydock began with specialist operators maintaining an even distribution of weight at all times. This drydock was then towed back down river to deeper waters enabling the sinking and float-off of the ferry allowing her to be returned and tied up alongside Austal USA.