Carlos Del Toro: Foreign Shipbuilder Collaboration Will Help With Timely Vessel Delivery

The U.S. Navy’s top civilian has expressed interest in collaborating with partner nations to ensure timely ship deliveries.

In an event held at the Stimson Center on Tuesday, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, a past Potomac Officers Club event speaker and 2024 Wash100 winner, said that the United States needs to keep an open mind on collaborating with foreign shipyards, similar to the arrangement practiced in the aircraft sector, where a foreign partner produces components and then assembles them locally.

Del Toro’s statement comes after he visited shipbuilding facilities in Japan and South Korea, observing foreign shipbuilders’ commitment to timely deliveries, Breaking Defense reported.

However, U.S. shipbuilders did not like the secretary’s suggestion of collaborating with a foreign firm. Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, said that Del Toro’s statement is shortsighted and will create uncertainty and instability in the local industry.

The Navy secretary has been focused on improving the country’s shipbuilding capabilities. In January, Del Toro issued a directive instructing a review of the service’s shipbuilding portfolio. The review seeks to better understand the state of shipbuilders and suppliers after the global pandemic, especially those engaged in the production of Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines and Constellation-class frigates.