Atlantic Marine to work on oiler

MOBILE, Ala. - A Navy oiler not used for more than a dozen years has been handed over to the Chilean government, and Mobile's Atlantic Marine will play a key role in its $30 million revitalization. Chile acquired the vessel in May under a foreign military sales agreement, where it pays the U.S. government a reactivation fee and the government handles the work. In this deal, the price tag was $29.95 million, which includes repairing or replacing equipment and training the sailors. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/25/09)

LCS completes builder's trial

MOBILE, Ala. – Independence, the high-speed trimaran combatant ship being constructed by shipbuilder Austal USA as part of the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Team, successfully completed a series of tests known as builder's trials on Oct. 18 in the Gulf of Mexico. The trials included more than 50 demonstration events to test the ship and all its systems in preparation for final inspection by the Navy before delivery. Events during the trials included reaching a sustained speed of 44 knots during the required four-hour full-power run, with a top speed in excess of 45 knots. (Source: General Dynamics via PR Newswire, 10/21/09)

Northrop Grumman 3Q report

Northrop Grumman Corp. reported that third quarter 2009 earnings from continuing operations totaled $487 million compared with $509 million in the third quarter of 2008. Third quarter 2009 net pension adjustment reduced earnings from continuing operations by $47 million compared with an increase to earnings from continuing operations of $42 million in the third quarter of 2008. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 10/21/09) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman has shipbuilding operations in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss., and Avondale, La.

Makin Island commissioning set

NORTH ISLAND, Calif. – The Pascagoula, Miss.-built USS Makin Island will be formally commissioned in a ceremony on Naval Air Station North Island Saturday. The ship arrived in San Diego in mid-September, bringing over 1,000 sailors and their families to the San Diego community. Makin Island is the final amphibious assault ship built in the LHD-1 Wasp-class, but is the first of the class built with gas turbine engines and electric drive, as well as other energy saving systems. (Source: NNS, 10/19/09)

LCS takes trial run

MOBILE, Ala. - The littoral combat ship Independence left its dock at Austal Tuesday for a day at sea, according to Jim DeMartini, General Dynamics Corp. spokesman. The ship, currently in builder's trials, is expected to head out at least one more time before it is handed over the U.S. Navy in mid-November for final inspection. One of a new class of shallow-water warships, it was built at Austal USA's Mobile shipyard as part of a team led by General Dynamics. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/14/09)

USS New York departing New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The USS New York is scheduled to leave the New Orleans area Tuesday after more than three years of construction at Avondale. The 684-foot amphibious transport dock ship, which contains more than seven tons of steel from the World Trade Center, will head for its namesake city, where it will be commissioned Nov. 7. Then it will move to its homeport of Norfolk, Va. The ship was built by Northrop Grumman’s Avondale shipyard. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 10/13/09)

Navy secretary visits shipyard

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus toured Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s shipyard in Pascagoula and the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport Thursday. “The most impressive thing here is the quality of the workforce,” Mabus said of the shipyard workers. Mabus, former governor of Mississippi who was appointed to the secretary’s post in May, toured a variety of ships under construction, including Gravely, San Diego, Waesche and Dewey. (Source: GlobeNewswire, 10/08/09)

Bender creditors file complaint

MOBILE, Ala. - Bender Shipbuilding's unsecured creditors are worried over the shipyard's plan to sell most of its Mobile assets, alleging that Bender is pursuing a deal that favors management and would likely leave creditors out in the cold. The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors late Tuesday filed a limited objection. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/08/09)

Austal may have another union vote

MOBILE, Ala. - A union could get a third try at organizing Austal USA’s workers after an administrative law judge ruled the shipyard committed unfair labor practices before an April 2008 election. Austal said it is considering appealing the decision, released last week, to the full National Labor Relations Board. If the shipbuilder does not appeal, the decision will become binding and workers will vote for the third time in seven years on whether they want to be represented by the Sheet Metal Workers International Association. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/07/09)

Cutter shines in acceptance trials

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The Northrop Grumman-built Waesche, the second in a new class of cutters, successfully completed its Coast Guard acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico this week, the company said Friday. Waesche, under construction at the Pascagoula shipyard, is the second in the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend class, an eight-ship national security cutter program. Delivery is expected in early November. The WMSL 751 performed well this week during testing of propulsion, electrical, damage control and combat systems, the company said. The ship's builders trial was in August. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/03/09)

Bender expects to have new owner

MOBILE, Ala. - Most of Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co.'s Mobile operations will have a new owner by Dec. 15. That’s according to documents obtained by the Press-Register and the shipbuilder's chief executive, Tom Bender. The shipyard has hired New Orleans-based Global Hunter Securities LLP to handle the sale of about 80 percent of its property along the Mobile riverfront. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/01/09)

Contract: Swiftships, $181M

Swiftships Shipbuilders LLC, Morgan City, La., is being awarded a $180,998,189 fixed-price letter contract for the detail design and construction of nine patrol boats and associated equipment and services for the Iraq Navy. The contract is for nine Swiftships model 35PB1208E-1455 patrol boats along with six 30mm gun weapons systems, machine gun mounts and cradles, spare parts, and contractor engineering technical services. Sixty percent of the work will be performed in Morgan City, La., and 8 percent in Ocean Springs, Miss. Other work sites are Detroit, Mich., and Charlottesville, Va., and is expected to be completed by August 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/25/09)

VT Halter Marine set to hire 150

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - VT Halter Marine plans to hire 150 employees soon. The company was awarded a second contract from OSG Ship Management to build a 350,000 barrel articulated tug barge unit. The work should begin in November 2009, and be finished by the middle of 2010. Halter is currently working on a similar vessel for the same company. (Source: WLOX-TV, Mississippi Press, 09/23/09)

SUPSHIP command changes

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – Navy Capt. William J. Galinis has replaced Capt. Mary E. "Beth" Dexter as commander of the Navy's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Gulf Coast during a ceremony Friday at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. SUPSHIP, a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command, administers Defense Department ship construction contracts awarded to private shipyards across the Gulf Coast. (Source: Mississippi Press, 09/19/09)

Navy changes LCS buying plans

The Navy has canceled plans to split a three-ship purchase of littoral combat ships in 2010 between two competitors in favor of a two-stage buying process. The Navy next year wants to award to either General Dynamics of Lockheed-Martin a winner-take-all fixed price contract for up to 10 ships by 2014. And in 2012 the Navy wants to open up the competition to other shipbuilders and buy another five ships with the winning design. Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., is part of the General Dynamics team. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 09/17/09)

Northrop's Sugar sets retirement

LOS ANGELES – Ronald D. Sugar, chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman since 2003, has announced he'll retire in June 2010. Sugar will step down from his chairman and CEO positions and the company's board of directors at the end of the year. He’ll continue as an employee officer advising the company until his retirement date. Wesley G. Bush, president and chief operating officer, will become CEO and president Jan. 1, 2010. Bush was also elected to the Northrop Grumman board of directors, effective immediately. Northrop Grumman's largest operation on the Gulf Coast is its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 09/16/09)

Senate, House differ on ship buys

WASHINGTON – A Senate panel’s version of the defense spending bill for the upcoming fiscal year differs from the House version in number and mix of Navy ships. The Senate panel wants two littoral combat ships, a version of which is built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. The House wants four. The Senate panel also wants two DDG-51 destroyers built by Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula, Miss. That’s one more than in the House wants. The Senate panel also provides money for Northrop Grumman to start construction on another amphibious assault ship. The bill still has to go to the full Senate. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 09/12/09)

Signal wins grant for upgrade

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - A $2.5 million equipment upgrade may create up to 150 jobs at Signal International's Pascagoula yard once the market improves, company leaders said. With the help of a federal grant, Signal will purchase a profile cutting system, semi-auto beveler, 750-ton brake press and roll form press. The grant will pay for about $1.6 million of the upgrade, and Signal will pitch in $600,000. (Source: Mississippi Press, 09/10/09)

Contract: Lockheed, $13.5M

Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $13,495,982 modification to previously awarded contract for management and engineering services to maintain and modify the design of DDG 51 Class combat system compartments and topside arrangements. The required services for DDG 51 Class ships and CG 47 Class ships 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. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/04/09)

Navy takes delivery of Dewey

The Navy took delivery of its 57th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the Dewey, Aug. 17. The 9,500-ton ship built by Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula, Miss., completed its combined super trial in June in the Gulf of Mexico. The Dewey, hull number DDG 105, is named for Adm. George Dewey, the Navy hero of the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War. The Dewey’s commissioning is scheduled for December. (Source: Navy Times, 08/24/09)