Austal USA Names New President

Rusty Murdaugh has been named president of Austal USA, according to a press release. Murdaugh joined the Mobile shipbuilder in 2017 as chief financial officer and took over as interim president in February after the departure of Craig Perciavalle. As interim president, Murdaugh led the addition of steel shipbuilding to the Austal USA manufacturing operations and led the company’s facility expansion in Mobile by acquiring additional waterfront and services capability on the Mobile River. Murdaugh’s selection “comes as the company grows its diverse portfolio of new construction, service and support, and autonomous vehicle contracts,” Austal said. Before Austal, Murdaugh worked with Esterline Corp., Avnet, United Technologies Corp. and Honeywell. In a recent AL.com interview, Murdaugh spoke on his company’s ongoing battle with COVID-19 and diversification into service work.