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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Davie Defense Expands Galveston-Port Arthur, Texas, Operations

02/15/2026
American shipbuilding and maritime defense company Davie Defense Inc. plans to expand its operations in Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas. The more than $730 million project is expected to create 2,400 jobs.

The investment at the company’s existing facilities will allow it to increase production of Arctic icebreakers and other specialized vessels for U.S. government and commercial customers.

“Davie Defense is proud to deepen our commitment to Texas,” said Davie Defense CEO Kai Skvarla. “Texas has one of the world’s most business-friendly environments and the scale to support complex shipbuilding, a capability we’re bringing back to Texas for the first time in generations. Our investment will serve American industry and the U.S. government for decades to come, starting with Davie’s globally recognized specialty: the polar-capable icebreakers critical to U.S. national security.”

To support the project a Texas Enterprise Fund grant of $21,771,000 has been extended to Davie Defense. TEF is a performance-based grant that may be awarded to a business relocation or expansion project for which one Texas site is in competition with out-of-state locations to create new, good-paying jobs in the community and attract significant new capital investment to the state.

“With the best business climate in the nation, Texas is a magnet for complex, critical manufacturing,”noted Governor Greg Abbott. “This significant capital investment by Davie Defense will expand economic opportunity in Galveston and Port Arthur and create thousands of good-paying jobs and further bolster national defense by expanding capacity for the manufacture of icebreakers and other specialized vessels for the U.S. government and commercial customers. Texas is positioned to be a national hub for critical shipbuilding and, with our strong workforce, we will be for generations to come.”

Davie Defense, Inc. formed as the U.S. subsidiary of the Inocea Group to design, build, and sustain complex vessels, including polar icebreakers, warships, and other mission-critical craft. In 2025 the company acquired Gulf Copper & Manufacturing’s shipbuilding assets in Galveston and Port Arthur.

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