Contract: Lockheed Martin, $6M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $6,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract for management and engineering services to maintain and modify as necessary the design of DDG 51 Class Combat System compartments and topside arrangements, in support of the Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems. The required services include program management and operation support, quality assurance, configuration management, ship design integration, fleet lifecycle engineering support, installation support, firmware maintenance, combat system test and evaluation, Navy furnished material support, special studies, and future-ship integration studies. Twenty-two percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula, Miss. Other works sites are Moorestown, N.J., Bath, Maine, San Diego, Calif., Norfolk, Va., Port Hueneme, Calif., and Syracuse, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by September 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/27/10)

Contract: Horizon, $8.6M

Horizon Shipbuilding Inc., Bayou La Batre, Ala., was awarded a $8,619,510 firm-fixed-price contract to acquire a welded steel hulled commercial standard inland river tow boat for the Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, Memphis District, for towing services for Memphis, Little Rock, and Vicksburg districts. Work is to be performed at Bayou La Batre with an estimated completion date of Feb. 20, 2012. Eighteen bids were solicited with eight received. US Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/26/10)

Shipyard trimming 300 jobs

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding today issued a worker adjustment and retraining notification for 292 employees at the Gulf Coast shipbuilding facility at Pascagoula. The company also expects to reduce another 350 employees in Pascagoula by year's end. The cyclical nature of shipbuilding, where employment levels rise and fall based on contracts, is blamed for the latest round of cuts. (Source: Sun Herald, 08/25/10).

LCS contract delayed

The Navy confirmed this week that it will not award a $5 billion contract for 10 littoral combat ships this summer, but instead delay the decision until closer to the end of the year. Austal USA and Lockheed Martin are competing with two different designs to build the ships. At stake are at least 51 vessels. The service already has bought two ships from each competing team. When complete, the LCS fleet will number about one-sixth of the entire U.S. fleet. Austal USA employs about 1,500 people in its Mobile River shipyard. Austal officials have said the LCS contract would necessitate the hiring of another 2,000 workers. (Sources: Mobile Press-Register, 08/20/10, Defense News, 08/23/10)

Tug, barge christened

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - A new articulated tug barge was christened Tuesday at the VT Halter Pascagoula shipyard. VT Halter and Crowley Maritime Corp. partnered to build the tank vessel. Crowley's articulated tug barges consist of a tank vessel, which is the barge, and a large tug positioned in a notch in the stern of the barge. The tug was built at the company's Moss Point yard and the barge at the Pascagoula yard. VT Halter employs about 1,500 at its three Jackson County facilities, which include an Escatawpa yard.(Source: Sun Herald, 08/10/10, Mississippi Press, 08/11/10)

Signal gets $15M contract

Mobile, Ala.-based Signal International won a $15 million contract for work on Noble Corp.’s Jim Thompson semi-submersible drilling rig, the company announced Monday. Signal will do the work at its east yard in Pascagoula. The company will add more than 150 workers for the job. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/03/10)

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $17.2M

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $17,224,434 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract to exercise an option for fiscal 2010 class services in support of class product fabrication, delivery, engineering and engineering support of the DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer. Ninety-five percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula and five percent in Gulfport, Miss., and is expected to be completed by December 2010. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/02/10)