JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — TOTE Services, LLC, a leading U.S. maritime services company specializing in vessel construction management and ship management, today signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation – Maritime Administration to serve as vessel construction manager for the Missile Range Instrumentation Vessel program. The MRIV will support the Missile Defense Agency in advancing national security. 

Immediately following this award, TOTE Services also executed a shipyard subcontract with Hanwha Philly Shipyard to construct the first MRIV. This ship will be the first in a planned series of vessels for MDA.

The MRIV program was announced this summer by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought. Since then, TOTE Services has been working as VCM to negotiate and finalize contract terms, advance the vessel design and secure firm fixed pricing. In traditional government shipbuilding, this process could extend to a year or more. Because MARAD has elected to build these ships using the VCM model, TOTE Services can accelerate the design and negotiation timeline and complete these tasks in less than three months.

“Signing the Missile Range Instrumentation Vessel contract and executing the shipyard subcontract brings us closer to delivering the next generation of U.S. defense capability,” said Jeff Dixon, President of TOTE Services. “Our proven Vessel Construction Management model means we’re hitting the milestones sooner and making meaningful progress faster.”

The MRIV design is based on the National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV), which have been built at HPSI under TOTE Services’ management. The MRIV has the same hull design and an overall 70% commonality with the proven NSMV design — reducing construction risk to enable a faster, more reliable construction process. 

The VCM approach offers advantages over traditional government acquisition strategies, reducing acquisition costs by at least 50%. By defining requirements upfront and approving change orders quickly, the model improves schedule certainty and ensures vessels are mission-ready when they are delivered.

“The Missile Defense Agency depends on a strong domestic industrial base to keep our nation safe,” said Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania). “Announced at my 2026 Pennsylvania Defense & Innovation Summit, the partnership between Hanwha Philly Shipyard and TOTE Services will strengthen our military readiness, expand American shipbuilding capacity, and reinforce Pennsylvania’s critical role in our national security. Pennsylvania has long served as an arsenal of democracy, and this project is another example of our Commonwealth delivering for America.”

“As a Florida-based maritime company, TOTE Services has a proven record of supporting critical government vessel programs and strengthening our nation’s maritime capabilities,” said Rep. John Rutherford (R-Florida). Its partnership with Hanwha Philly Shipyard on this Missile Defense Agency project demonstrates how the Vessel Construction Management model can efficiently deliver assets that enhance America’s security and military readiness.”

HPSI will build the MRIV using the active production line, existing supply chain, and skilled workforce already in place from the NSMV program. The NSMV program transformed the shipyard from a dormant yard with a few dozen workers into a national security asset that now employs more than 2,000 production workers. The MRIV contract builds directly on that momentum, bringing new defense construction work to the yard and positioning it for continued growth as the nation rebuilds its shipbuilding capacity.

“Hanwha Philly Shipyard’s workforce continues to demonstrate why Philadelphia remains one of the nation’s premier shipbuilding centers, with Hanwha and TOTE Services bringing valuable maritime expertise to the project,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05). “Together, they are creating skilled union jobs, investing billions into our regional economy, and helping deliver capabilities that strengthen our national defense.”

As the current ship manager and operator of the existing MARAD and MDA vessels, Pacific Tracker and Pacific Collector, TOTE Services brings deep operational and technical expertise to the MRIV program. The MRIV vessels will replace the Pacific Tracker and Pacific Collector, built in 1965 and 1970, which currently support missile range instrumentation missions. The program is an interagency collaboration between the Department of Transportation, the Department of War, and MDA, under the existing VCM contract vehicle between MARAD and TOTE Services. The first MRIV is scheduled for delivery in 2030.

From TOTE Services, Oct. 7, 2026