Marinette Marine to benefit from $697 million Navy contract

Shipbuilding jobs appear to be stable in Marinette after the Pentagon awarded a $697 million contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. for two additional littoral combat ships for the U.S. Navy. Most of the shipbuilding will take place at Marinette Marine Corp., but Fairbanks Morse Engine in Beloit will build two diesel engines. Marinette’s ships should be completed by 2018. In all, the Navy wants 20 of these ships, and construction is being split between Marinette and another company in Mobile, Ala. Marinette Marine Corp. employs about 1,400 people, while Beloit’s Fairbanks Morse Engine employs about 350.