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Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Austal USA would like to introduce John Bell as the Director of Legal Affairs for Austal’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard. Mr. Bell comes to Austal from the law firm of Nix, Holtsford, Gilliland, Higgins and Hitson, P.C. where he worked as an attorney in their litigation department.
With a Law degree from the University of Alabama and an MBA from Spring Hill College, Mr. Bell also has over 12 years of experience in the shipbuilding industry. Upon graduation from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, he worked as a design engineer for Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Co. in Mobile, Alabama, and in project management for both ship repair and new construction for Atlantic Marine, Inc. John also sailed as an engineering officer on U.S. Merchant ships prior to attending law school.
In addition to his role as in-house counsel for Austal USA, he also manages the contracts and estimating departments. Austal USA’s Chief Operating Officer, Joe Rella, had this to say about Austal’s new addition to its executive team: “Austal is committed to building the best team possible to enable us to be the shipbuilder of choice for our customers. The addition of John Bell to our team is evidence of this. John brings a great deal of applicable experience, and will immediately be an integral contributor to our future success. We are very fortunate to have John Bell on our team.”
Current construction activity at the Mobile yard includes the second of two 353-foot (107-meter) high-speed vehicle/passenger ferries for Hawaii Superferry, which is on schedule for launch in the end of September, and the 127-meter Littoral Combat Ship, Independence (LCS 2) under construction for the U.S. Navy. Austal also recently broke ground on the site of a 700,000 square-foot Modular Manufacturing Facility. The Mobile, Alabama shipyard currently employs over 1,000 shipyard workers. The yard began operation in 2001 and has successfully produced and delivered nine aluminum vessels, including two fast crew supply vessels, two dinner cruise yachts, two high-speed passenger ferries, two high-speed vehicle/passenger ferries, and one surface-effect vessel for the Office of Naval Research.
For further information, contact:
Bill Pfister, Vice President, External Affairs
Michelle Bowden, Sales and Marketing Coordinator
Tel: 251-434-8000, Fax: 251-445-1955 Email: sales@austal.com
www.austal.com
