Saronic launches second Marauder autonomous ship in Louisiana

Saronic has put a second Marauder autonomous ship in the water at its shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, and the vessel is now running under its own power, company CEO Dino Mavrookas said in a post on Nov. 3. He said the second hull took 8% fewer labor hours to build than the first. "That’ll continue to get better, every build needs to be more efficient than the last," said Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas. The Marauder is a 150-foot (46-meter) medium uncrewed surface vessel designed to operate autonomously or under remote supervision, without a crew on board. Saronic says it can reach speeds above 25 knots, sail up to 5,400 nautical miles and carry up to 150 metric tons of payload, including up to four 40-foot or eight 20-foot shipping containers, depending on the mission, Naval Today reported. Saronic launched the first Marauder in late May, less than a year after laying its keel in August 2025. The company built both ships with private money and has not announced a U.S. Navy production contract for the vessel. Mavrookas did not say whether the second Marauder will join the first in sea trials or what it will be used for. The Franklin yard is central to Saronic's plans. The Austin, Texas-based company bought boatbuilder Gulf Craft and its roughly 100-acre site in Franklin in 2025 and said it would spend about $250 million reworking the plant, Axios reported. Mavrookas said the yard was shutting down when Saronic took it over, with capacity trending toward zero, and that it is now active and expanding. "Fully ramped we’ll do 20 Marauders a year in Franklin," said Mavrookas. Saronic has said it expects to reach that rate once expansion work at the yard is finished, which it has targeted for the end of 2026. The company is also planning a larger shipyard, called Port Alpha, to build vessels at higher volume. The Marauder is designed to carry a range of payloads in containers, from sensors to weapons. In June, Saronic and Castelion said they plan to launch a Blackbeard hypersonic missile from a Marauder in a demonstration targeted for 2027. The U.S. Navy has already ordered Blackbeard missiles in a $200 million deal. Saronic has also worked with NVIDIA on the autonomy software behind its vessels, as The Defence Blog reported when Saronic teamed with NVIDIA on AI-powered ships.