Bollinger Shipyards

Bollinger Shipyards LLC has an 80+ year legacy as a designer and builder of high-performance Coast Guard cutters, U.S. Navy patrol boats and salvage vessels, research vessels, ocean-going double hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tugboats, rigs, lift boats, inland waterways push boats, barges, and other steel and aluminum products. Founded as a small machine shop by Donald G. Bollinger in 1946 to service the local agriculture and oil industries, it is today under its third generation of family ownership and is described as the largest privately owned and operated shipbuilder in the United States, with 13 shipyards across Louisiana and Mississippi.

After graduating from high school during the Great Depression, Donald G. Bollinger went to work at Barker Barge Line in Lockport, Louisiana and apprenticed under his dad, Bud Bollinger, where they built oil barges for the Allies in World War II in the early 1940s. The owner, Mr. Alex Barker, left him $17,000. In 1946, Donald used the money from Mr. Barker as seed money to start a business, establishing a machine shop on 80 acres of land along the banks of Bayou Lafourche. He brought in his brothers, Ralph, a mechanic, and George, a welder, and Richard, an LSU graduate who became president of Bollinger. They were also joined by Bud and Walter K. "Pappy" Boyd, Donald's brother-in-law. Taking advantage of the oilfield boom in southern Louisiana, Bollinger began constructing barges and work boats, and also built fishing vessels. During its first 25 years of existence, the company remained a small, local business. It was not until 1978 that the company would open a second shipyard, located in nearby Larose, Louisiana. Today Bollinger Shipyards is under its third generation of family ownership and is described as the largest privately owned and operated shipbuilder in the United States, with 13 strategically located shipyards across Louisiana and Mississippi.

Leading designer and builder of high-performance military patrol boats, salvage vessels, research vessels, and a wide array of specialized maritime assets; largest privately-owned shipbuilder in the Gulf of America region.

• Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters

• 2026-08-18

  Bollinger Shipyards and Gulfport School District launch NextGen Shipbuilders program[5]博林格造船厂与格尔夫波特学区推出NextGen Shipbuilders项目seapowermagazine.org

  Reported: 2026-08-19

  Bollinger Shipyards announced a partnership with the Gulfport School District to launch 'Bollinger NextGen Shipbuilders', a work-based learning program introducing Gulfport High School students to maritime manufacturing trades at Bollinger's new training facility.

1. 1Bollinger Shipyards - 75 Years of High-Quality Vessels for Commercial and Government Customersbollingershipyards.com
2. 2Our History - Bollinger Shipyards - The Story Behind the Shipsbollingershipyards.com
3. 3Who We Are - Bollinger Shipyards - The Ship Makersbollingershipyards.com
4. 4Services - Bollinger Shipyards - Repair, Design, and Constructionbollingershipyards.com
5. 5博林格造船厂与格尔夫波特学区推出NextGen Shipbuilders项目seapowermagazine.org