Nichols Brothers Boat Builders will get $519,761 in federal funding for new equipment at the Freeland shipyard, Congressman Rick Larsen announced Monday.

The $519,761 grant will pay the purchase of a 25-ton and a 40-ton mobile crane. The grant is being awarded under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration Assistance to Small Shipyards program.

“This grant is a smart federal investment that will help Nichols Brothers increase their productivity and continue to create and support local jobs,” Larsen said.

Nichols Brothers was one of 13 shipyards nationwide chosen for grant funding.

According to the Maritime Administration, grants from the Assistance to Small Shipyards program are awarded “to help make capital and infrastructure improvements that facilitate the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality of domestic ship construction, conversion or repair for commercial and federal government use.”

Larsen, a 2nd District Democrat, is the ranking member of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, which oversees the Maritime Administration and authorizes the Assistance to Small Shipyards program.