Fairlead Boatworks, Inc.

Fairlead Boatworks, Inc., a veteran-owned small business based in Newport News, Virginia, delivers ship repair, vessel maintenance, and marine boatyard industrial support services to the federal government as a prime contractor (100% of recent awards). The company competes predominantly under Total Small Business set-asides across multiple indefinite delivery vehicles and task order contracts with the Naval Sea Systems Command, Military Sealift Command, and other maritime agencies. Fairlead Boatworks is a Subchapter S corporation and subsidiary of parent company Fairlead Marine Inc., also veteran-owned.

Fairlead Boatworks' capability portfolio centers on hull, mechanical, and electrical repairs; drydocking and vessel preservation; overhaul and modernization; and depot-level boatyard support for surface combatants, amphibious craft, auxiliary vessels, landing craft, messing and berthing barges, and small watercraft. Recent representative work includes a $65 million delivery order from Military Sealift Command (June 2025) for EPF Layberth Services Cluster Three through February 2030; a $12.9 million delivery order from Military Sealift Command (August 2022) for deactivation of the USNS Walter S. Diehl; a $10.5 million definitive contract from Military Sealift Command (April 2022) for mid-term availability services on the USNS Kanawha; and a $1.76 million delivery order from Naval Sea Systems Command (September 2021) for maintenance, repair, and overhaul of Landing Craft Utility 1645.

Customer concentration is heavily naval. Naval Sea Systems Command accounts for 347 awards (29% of total) valued at $1.73 billion combined potential value, followed by Military Sealift Command (77 awards, $703.5 million). The Department of Army Materiel Command, TACOM Life Cycle Management Command ranks third by potential value ($609.5 million across 9 awards, likely legacy vehicle work), with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (7 awards, $73.9 million) and the U.S. Coast Guard (125 awards, $44.3 million) rounding out the top five customers. These five account for 98% of combined potential value across the vendor's footprint.

Fairlead Boatworks holds multiple significant indefinite delivery contracts. Active IDIQs include a $300.2 million Complex and Non-Complex Maintenance IDIQ with Naval Sea Systems Command (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion January 2027) for surface combatant and amphibious ship maintenance in Norfolk; a $248.8 million Military Sealift Command EPF Layberth Services IDIQ (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion February 2030) for expeditionary fast transport vessel berthing; a $177 million NAVSEA Non-Complex Emergent and Continuous Maintenance IDIQ (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion January 2027) for Norfolk-homeported surface ships; a $140 million East Coast General Ship Repair IDIQ held with Military Sealift Command (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion September 2028); a $90.2 million Marine Boatyard and Maintenance Support Lot I (Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center) with Naval Sea Systems Command (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion September 2026); a $79.2 million Marine Boatyard and Maintenance Support Lot II (Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center) with Naval Sea Systems Command (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion December 2026); and a $73.8 million Fleetwide Dockside and Ship Maintenance IDIQ with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion August 2028). Smaller vehicles include a $43.6 million Barge/Boat IDIQ Overhaul with Naval Sea Systems Command (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion September 2026) and a $2.8 million U.S. Coast Guard Insulation Repairs IDIQ (multiple award, small business set-aside, completion January 2029).

Activity over the past five years reflects high variability: 38 awards in 2022, 59 in 2023, 46 in 2024, 35 in 2025, and 6 in 2026 (through mid-March). The vendor has issued 1,194 total awards since 1980; 347 (29%) fall under Naval Sea Systems Command. The combined potential value across all awards stands at $3.24 billion, with $416.4 million obligated to date (13% execution rate). Six awards worth $10.1 million combined face ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months, representing moderate recompete exposure. The vendor's top parent vehicles by task order volume are legacy contracts from 2013–2018 Marine Boatyard Services (119 task orders, $61.5 million) and multiple indefinite delivery contracts with over 60 task orders each, demonstrating sustained delivery performance across NAVSEA and MSC platforms.

Fairlead Boatworks received a $900,000 federal Project Grant from the Department of Transportation Maritime Administration under the Assistance to Small Shipyards program (CFDA 20.814) in July 2022 to purchase a 160-ton rough terrain crane for capital improvements. The grant was scheduled for completion by July 2024 and reflects infrastructure investment to support shipyard modernization. The vendor operates from Newport News, Virginia, with secondary facilities in Portsmouth and Norfolk, positioning it to serve the Hampton Roads naval and maritime complex. Fairlead Boatworks subcontracts minimally (1 sub-award identified: design and fabrication work for Gibbs & Cox, Inc., issued June 2025). The company's federal contracting posture is characterized by Total Small Business set-aside dominance across its prime IDIQ footprint and a tightly focused customer base anchored in Navy and maritime operations.