In addition to the LCS2,  Austal is also finishing up a second Hawaii Superferry vessel.  The first of the 349 foot ships which can ferry 866 passengers and 282 cars was delivered in June of 2007.  That ship, known as the Alakai, provides daily passenger and vehicle transportation between Honolulu Harbor on the island of Oʻahu and Kahului Harbor on Maui.  The second Hawaii superferry is to be delivered in 2009.
Austall is also eagerly awaiting the award of the three team competition vying to build up to ten military transport vessels known as Joint High Speed Vessels, or JHSV.  That announcement in anticipated to occur in the first part of November. 
Austal’s US operations in Mobile, Alabama is expanding it facilities to accomodate the anticpated growth.  Austal broke ground a new Modular Manufacturing Facility (MMF) in July 2008.   The MMF project complete will include 700,000 square feet of manufacturing space,  80,000 square feet of warehouse space, and 60,000 square feet of office space.  The MMF expansion will be constructed in two phases and will ultimately accommodate a total workforce of up to 1,200 personnel in the new buildings. The state-of-the-art facility will be capable of constructing six large aluminum vessels such as the LCS2 and/or JHSV per year.

For more information on Austal, please visit their website at http://www.austal.com.

Mobile joins the likes of Seattle, San Francisco and Chattanooga, Tenn., in the September issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of the “50 next great towns” in which to live and play.   Magazine editors said their annual choices “aren’t just on prime relocation spots now, but smart choices for the future.” National Geographic asked the Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau for its recommendation of interesting, offbeat local destinations, according to bureau President Leon Maisel. Editors made their choices after visiting the various locales. In Mobile, tours of the local river delta system were a major draw, Maisel said.

Mobile was the only Alabama site among the magazine’s 50 choices. Most of the areas were in the western part of the United States. Tourist spending is big business in Mobile, according to the Convention & Visitors Bureau, which put 2007 tourism spending at $888.6 million in Mobile, which welcomed an estimated 2.6 million visitors. Other Mobile highlights in the top-50 list included the outdoor patio at Café 615 on Dauphin Street and the Kate Shepard House bed and breakfast.

The Mobile area has been in the pages of other National Geographic publications, including an article earlier this year in National Geographic Traveler that focused on the Eastern Shore on Mobile Bay.

LINK: http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/01/30/economy-cities-alabama-biz-cx_bw_0130econcities.html