TOTE Wins $2.2 Billion Navy Deal to Build Up to Eight Landing Ships
The Jacksonville maritime firm will manage subcontracts for new Medium Landing Ships, with options that could push the award to $2.6 billion by September 2031.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA — TOTE Services LLC won a $2.21 billion Navy contract to manage construction of up to eight Medium Landing Ships, the largest award in the company’s history.
The firm-fixed-price deal could climb to $2.61 billion if the Navy exercises all options, according to war.gov. Fiscal 2025 shipbuilding funds of $1.93 billion, or 88%, and fiscal 2026 funds of $272.1 million will be obligated at the time of award, the Navy said. The money will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
“TOTE Services has been selected by the U.S. Navy as Vessel Construction Manager for the Medium Landing Ship Program,” the company said on its website, according to toteservices.com.
The award marks a milestone for a company better known for managing ships than commanding blockbuster contracts. It surpasses TOTE’s previous record of $311.4 million and stands as the company’s first contract of 2026, according to firestore:contracts. Founded in 1975, the Jacksonville firm has provided technical consulting and management for nearly 100 vessels and now serves as the nation’s leading vessel construction manager, according to toteservices.com.
The work spreads across several states. Crews will perform 65% of the effort in Marinette, Wisconsin, 16% in Houma, Louisiana, 9% in Jacksonville, Florida, and 10% in other locations, the Navy said. The base work is expected to finish by June 2030, extending through September 2031 if all options are exercised.
The contract carries funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21, and directly supports a national push to rebuild American shipbuilding, the Navy said. Domestic shipyards have lost ground to foreign competitors over decades, and the Medium Landing Ship program aims to give the Marine Corps shallow-draft vessels able to move troops and equipment across contested coastlines.
The stakes reach beyond Jacksonville. Shipyards in Wisconsin and Louisiana stand to gain years of steady work, while the Navy gains vessels central to its plans for distributed operations in the Pacific. Taxpayers shoulder a bill that ranks among the larger naval awards of the year, falling between the 2026 Navy portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9 million and its maximum of $8 billion, according to firestore:contracts.
For the average reader, the award represents federal dollars flowing into industrial towns and the shipbuilding trades that support them, from welders to marine engineers. Payrolls in Marinette and Houma anchor local economies that depend on Navy work.
Has a single management contract of this size gone to TOTE before? It has not. The company’s prior peak sat near $311 million, making this award roughly seven times larger, according to firestore:contracts. The deal was competitively procured through the System for Award Management website, with one offer received, the Navy said.
Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity under identifier N00024-26-C-2421. The Navy has not announced a date for the next decision on exercising the contract’s options.
American shipbuilding has swung between boom and neglect before. During World War II, U.S. yards launched more than 2,700 Liberty ships between 1941 and 1945, a surge that made the country the dominant maritime builder of its era, according to war.gov. The postwar decades saw that capacity shrink as commercial orders moved overseas, leaving fewer yards to sustain naval demand. The revival now sought through programs like the Medium Landing Ship echoes that wartime scramble to put steel in the water fast.
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