TOTE Services has been selected as Vessel Construction Manager for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Medium Landing Ship program in a deal valued at up to $2.2 billion. The award covers management of up to eight vessels in the initial phase of an effort the Navy expects to grow to a fleet of 35 ships.
The Jacksonville, Florida company will hold the prime contract and coordinate shipyards, suppliers, designers and government stakeholders rather than the Navy contracting each yard directly. TOTE will award and manage shipyard subcontracts, oversee schedules and costs, and stand up lifecycle logistics. Fincantieri Marinette Marine and Bollinger Shipyards are expected to build the first ships.
The Navy adopted the commercial construction manager approach after years of cost overruns and schedule delays across several major shipbuilding efforts. TOTE previously oversaw the Maritime Administration National Security Multi Mission Vessel program at Philly Shipyard, one of the few recent federal shipbuilding efforts to stay on schedule and within budget, with three of five vessels already delivered.
Earlier this year the Navy selected Damen Naval LST 100 as the LSM baseline design after canceling four Constellation class frigates that had not yet begun construction. In April, Fincantieri Marine Group received a $30 million contract covering long lead materials, engineering and production readiness work for the first four ships, positioning construction to start as early as the fourth quarter of 2026.
The roughly 4,000 ton Medium Landing Ship has become central to the Marine Corps Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept, which calls for small dispersed units moving between islands and austere coastal sites, especially across the Indo Pacific. Bringing a commercial manager into a Navy program at this scale is a test of whether the model that worked for the NSMV order can scale to a combat vessel line the service plans to build for the next decade.