Singapore Technologies 2Q report

Singapore Technologies Engineering reported its profit fell 9 percent for the second quarter of 2009 to $75.91 million from the second quarter 2008. It's the parent company of VT Halter Marine, which has 1,500 workers at shipyards in Pascagoula, Moss Point and Escatawpa, Miss., and ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering, which has 1,200 workers at Brookley Field Industrial Complex in Mobile, Ala. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/05/09)

Both LCS teams submit bids

Bids to build the next Littoral Combat Ships were submitted by both industry teams to the Navy. Lockheed Martin’s proposal was sent July 31 and General Dynamics was sent by the Aug. 3 deadline. The competition winner will receive two construction contracts and the other team one for the ships in the 2010 budget, with a cost cap is $460 million per ship. (Source: Defense News, 08/03/09) Gulf Coast note: The Lockheed team includes Bollinger Shipyard of New Orleans and the General Dynamics team includes Austal USA of Mobile, Ala.

Lockheed submits LCS FY10 proposal

The Lockheed Martin-led team submitted its proposal for the Littoral Combat Ship fiscal year 2010 contract to the Navy July 31. A contract is expected to be awarded this coming fiscal year for additional LCSs. The Navy is proceeding with a limited competition with winners of the Flight 0 phase of the program, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. (Source: Lockheed Martin via PRNewswire, 08/03/09) Gulf Coast note: Bollinger Shipyards in New Orleans is part of the Lockheed team and Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., is part of the General Dynamics team.

LPD 21 finishes acceptance trials

AVONDALE, La. - The amphibious transport dock ship, LPD 21, returned to the Northrop Grumman Avondale shipyard last week after a successful Navy acceptance trial, which included tests of the propulsion, control, combat, damage control systems and more. The ship, which will be named the USS New York, is the fifth in the San Antonio-class series. The bow stem contains 7.5 tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center after the 2001 terrorist attack. The ship is scheduled for commissioning in New York City Nov. 7, 2009. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 07/30/09)

First Lady to sponsor cutter

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - First Lady Michelle Obama will sponsor the third National Security Cutter. Officials celebrated the ship’s construction Monday at keel laying ceremony. The First Lady will christen the cutter at a Pascagoula ceremony next summer. The 418-foot cutter, WMSL 752, is named in honor of Dorothy C. Stratton, the first female commissioned officer in the Coast Guard. The cutter is more than 20 percent complete and scheduled to be delivered in the summer 2011. (Source: Sun Herald, Mississippi Press, 07/21/09)

Academy gets MDA funding

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Jackson County's Board of Supervisors have agreed to accept the Mississippi Development Authority's nearly $20 million grant to build a maritime training facility. The Hurricane Katrina community development block grant money will be used to develop a shipbuilding academy to help local shipyards better train their employees. Northrop Grumman will be the major tenant, but VT Halter Marine and Signal International will also use the facility. (Source: Mississippi Press, 07/21/09) Background story, Alliance Insight, July 2009

LHA 6 keel ceremony held

PASCAGOULA, Miss – A keel authentication ceremony was held Friday for LHA 6, the newest class of large-deck amphibious assault ships. LHA 6, named America, will replace the Tarawa class and is slated for completion in 2013. Northrop has been working on the ship for about three years, designing it and buying materials. LHA 6 will use many of the same systems designed and built for the recently delivered USS Makin Island. (Source: Mississippi Press, 07/18/09)

Group picks site for Ticonderoga

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - State-owned Lowery Island on the west bank of the Pascagoula River is targeted as the site to moor the decommissioned USS Ticonderoga. Jack Hoover, president of a group that wants to bring the ship to Pascagoula, announced the site at a meeting Thursday. The city is planning a condominium, public marina and retail shopping on the island, he said. Hoover said the Navy has given the group until October to submit an application for the ship, which is scheduled to be scrapped. (Source: Mississippi Press, 07/10/09)

Halter Marine gets grants

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - VT Halter Marine received three grants totaling more than $2.87 million as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Assistance to Small Shipyards program. A total of 14 small shipyards in 10 states will receive $17.1 million in grants from the Maritime Administration to make capital and infrastructure improvements for better efficiency. (Source: Sun Herald, 07/09/09)

Bender owes $37.6M

MOBILE, Ala. - Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. owes its 20 largest unsecured creditors more than $37.6 million, according to documents filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Bender has yet to reveal its debt-to-assets ratio in court. The 91-year-old Mobile business filed for Chapter 11 reorganization a week ago, forced to take that action after four of its creditors filed suit in an effort to force Bender's liquidation to pay debts. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 07/08/09)

LPD 21 finishes builder sea trial

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Northrop Grumman-built New York, LPD 21, performed builder's sea trials this week in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship's bow stem contains seven-and-a-half tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. LPD 21 is being built at the company's Avondale facility in Louisiana. New York is the fifth amphibious transport dock ship in the San Antonio class of amphibious assault force. The 684-foot, 105-foot-wide LPD transport dock ships are used to transport and land Marines, equipment and supplies by embarked air cushioned or conventional landing craft, expeditionary fighting vehicles, amphibious assault vehicles, helicopters, and vertical take off and landing aircraft. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 07/02/09)

Bender files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Bender files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
MOBILE, Ala. - Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. is seeking bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. The move comes after a group of creditors filed an involuntary petition to force the shipyard into bankruptcy. Bender said it intends to continue operating as a full service shipyard, though it will downsize and maintain a workforce of about 300 workers. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, EnergyCurrent, 07/01/09)

LCS sea trial delayed

MOBILE, Ala. - The littoral combat ship Independence remained moored in Mobile Tuesday, and lead contractor General Dynamics isn’t saying when the trimaran built by partner Austal USA might head out for four days of sea trials. It was originally scheduled to leave Monday, but a problem with the propulsion system delayed that. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 07/01/09)

Dewey completes "super trial"

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – The Aegis guided missile destroyer Dewey (DDG 105) successfully completed its combined super trial last week in the Gulf of Mexico, paving the way for delivery to the Navy later this summer. The destroyer built by Northrop Grumman at its Gulf Coast facilities in Pascagoula is 510 feet and 9,500 tons. It has an overall beam of 59 feet and a navigational draft of 31 feet. Four gas-turbine propulsion plants power the ship to speeds above 30 knots. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 06/30/09)

Maritime center dedication set

MOBILE, Ala. – Gov. Bob Riley will be on hand Monday to dedicate the 22-acre site of the Maritime Science Center, which is scheduled to open in a year. The $12 million facility will train up to 700 people annually in trades for the shipbuilding industry. Local shipyards have said that, despite the struggling economy, they anticipate needing even more workers. Construction of the state-run center begins in October. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/28/09)

LCS builder's trial set

MOBILE, Ala. - The littoral combat ship Independence is set to go to sea for the first time Monday for a builder’s trial. Built by Austal USA, the aluminum trimaran ship has been under construction for more than three years. Acceptance trials are scheduled for August, with delivery slated for September. Austal is part of the General Dynamics LCS team. A rival team led by Lockheed Martin has completed its own version of the shallow-water vessel built to a different design. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/27/09)

More LCS competition?

The House approved a spending bill that would open the littoral combat ship program to more competition if costs aren’t contained by the two current teams. Under the $550 billion measure, the Navy would get enough money to buy three vessels in fiscal 2010 from Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, which is working with Austal USA's shipyard in Mobile. If the teams fail to meet a cost ceiling of $460 million per ship, the Navy could develop a technical data package that could be shopped to new bidders. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/26/09)

Marine supplier gets new digs

MOBILE, Ala. - W&O of Jacksonville, Fla., a subsidiary of PON Holdings B.V. of the Netherlands, has moved from its facility at Brookley Field Industrial Complex to a 40,000-square-foot building in Theodore. W&O said growth over the past three years led to the move to a facility twice as large as its old location. W&O supplies marine valves, pipe fittings, engineered products and valve automation tools, and has been in Mobile 22 years. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/25/09)

Ship outfitted for NOAA

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's newest fisheries survey vessel is being outfitted at VT Halter Marine and should be ready in July. The 208-foot Pisces is docked in Bayou Casotte and will study, monitor and collect data on sea life and ocean conditions. It's designed for 40-day missions and will carry about 21 crew and 15 scientists from the NOAA Fisheries Service's Mississippi lab in Pascagoula. (Source: Mississippi Press, 06/20/09)

MARAD to repossess ferries

MOBILE, Ala. - The U.S. Maritime Administration plans to repossess and sell a pair of fast ferries built at Austal USA for Hawaii Superferry Inc., which owes $136.8 million to the agency. MARAD guaranteed the loans used to buy the ferries. The ferries are now docked at Atlantic Marine in Mobile. MARAD needs approval from bankruptcy court in Delaware. Hawaii Superferry Inc. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization May 30. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/24/09)