A 50-acre waterfront site in Edenton has become the new U.S. manufacturing headquarters for an Australian shipbuilder that designs specialized watercraft for the U.S. Marine Corps, with North Carolina officials touting it as a major win for the state's defense industry. The Whiskey Project Group's facility at the Riverbulk Terminal in Chowan County includes 100,000 square feet of fabrication and industrial space, and it's already tied to military contracts worth tens of millions of dollars.
Governor Josh Stein celebrated the opening in a social media post, calling it a continuation of “North Carolina's proud maritime heritage” and saying the facility is expected to create more than 200 jobs in northeastern North Carolina, per Governor Josh Stein
. Stein added that the project would strengthen the state's role in the defense industry and generate new opportunities for people in Chowan and neighboring counties. That jobs figure, however, is notably higher than numbers the company itself has circulated.
Conflicting Job Estimates
The Whiskey Project Group has said in its own announcement that it plans to grow its Edenton footprint into a team of up to 100 people over the next two to three years, according to The Whiskey Project Group. Earlier company materials and local news coverage had pointed to an even smaller number, describing the expansion as set to create more than 50 jobs within the site's fabrication and industrial space. The dossier of public statements leaves those estimates — 50-plus, up to 100, or Stein's more-than-200 figure — unreconciled, with each source standing behind its own number.
What is consistent across the record is the facility's purpose. The company has officially begun establishing its U.S. manufacturing hub at the Riverbulk Terminal in Chowan County, the same source notes, and the site is meant to serve as the company's new U.S. headquarters and manufacturing hub, according to The Daily Advance. That outlet reports the plant is intended to manufacture specialized reconnaissance and special operations watercraft for the military.
Military Contracts Already Underway
The Edenton operation is tied directly to a U.S. Marine Corps contract. The Whiskey Project Group announced in June that it had been awarded a deal to build Whiskey Bravo vessels for the Marine Corps, a contract the company valued at approximately US$36 million, or about AUD$50 million. The company has said the next vessels under that contract are expected to be built at the Edenton facility, with delivery of all vessels expected by the end of 2027.
The company also says its Whiskey Alpha and Whiskey Bravo boats are already being field-tested by the Marine Corps, and that over the next year it plans to bring its full range of Whiskey, Naiad and VYCOR products into U.S. manufacture and support. The facility will manufacture lightweight aluminum and composite vessels for both military and commercial maritime use, the company has said on its site previously branded under a separate web address.
A Strategic Spot Near Military Hubs
The company has framed Edenton's location as a deliberate choice. It describes the hub as strategically located between the Marine Corps' II MEF at Camp Lejeune, Fort Liberty in Fayetteville, and Norfolk's naval industrial heartland. Trade Only Today reports the facility is meant to support the company's global growth and localized service strategy while complementing its existing manufacturing operations in Australia and New Zealand, according to Trade Only Today.
On the commercial side, the Edenton site is also expected to anchor a broader product line. WorkBoat reports the facility will serve as the primary hub for building and delivering the company's full Naiad commercial vessel range across the Americas, according to WorkBoat. Industry trade outlet Defence Connect has separately described the project as bolstering maritime industrial capabilities and safeguarding sovereign supply chains, framing it within a push to strengthen the region's maritime industrial base and job creation.
Part of a Growing Global Footprint
Edenton marks the company's fourth manufacturing hub overall, joining existing facilities in New Zealand and in Sydney, Yamba, and Picton, Australia, per The Daily Advance's earlier reporting. The company has described its U.S. push as a continued expansion tied to its Marine Corps work and an expanded American leadership team, following the appointment of a former armed-service leader to help guide its U.S. operations.
For now, the scale of Edenton's economic impact on Chowan County and the surrounding region remains an open question, given the gap between the governor's jobs estimate and the company's own figures. What's not in dispute is that a 50-acre industrial site on the Riverbulk Terminal is now building boats for the U.S. military, with more vessels under contract expected to roll out of Edenton before the end of 2027.
