LCS final bids in

Both teams wanting to build Littoral Combat Ships for the Navy have submitted final proposals. Lockheed Martin and Austal USA are competing to have their design selected for at least 51 more LCS ships. Lockheed Martin’s version is being built in Marinetta, Wis., and Austal’s is being built in Mobile, Ala. Along with the design selection, the Navy will award contracts for 10 ships to be ordered between 2010 and 2014. (Source: Defense News, 09/15/10)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $12M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $12,088,100 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. 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. Other work sites are in New Jersey, Maine, California, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and New York. Work is expected to be completed by January 2011. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/09/10)

Austal continues to hire

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA employs more than 1,800 people at its Mobile River shipyard and continues to hire more, according to a company spokeswoman. The company started the year with about 1,000 workers, but increased hiring because of a contract to build high-speed transport ships for the U.S. military. It’s also competing for a $5 billion contract to build 10 littoral combat ships for the U.S. Navy. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 09/08/10)

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)

NG delivers destroyer Gravely

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Pascagoula yard on Tuesday delivered its 27th Aegis guided missile destroyer, Gravely, to the Navy. DDG 107 is 510 feet long and weighs 9,500 tons. It will be commissioned Nov. 20, in Wilmington, N.C. (Source: Mississippi Press, Northrop Grumman, 07/27/10)

Ship christened by First Lady

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - It took two swings of the bottle, but First Lady Michelle Obama on Friday christened a Coast Guard cutter named for the organization’s first female commissioned officer. Some 3,000 people showed up for the ceremony. The First Lady praised Capt. Dorothy C. Stratton as a pioneer who joined the Coast Guard during World War II and eventually oversaw more than 10,000 enlisted women and 1,000 commissioned officers. The ship, built by Northrop Grumman, will be delivered next summer and patrol waters off northern California. (Source: Multiple, including AP via NPR, Mississippi Press, Sun Herald, 07/23/10) Previous story

Keel laid for JHSV

MOBILE, Ala. - The Army and Navy this week authenticated the keel for the future Army Vessel Spearhead, JHSV 1, at the Austal USA shipyard. The event symbolically recognizes the beginning of ship construction. Spearhead is the first ship to be built as part of the DoD's Joint High Speed Vessel program, managed by the Navy's Program Executive Office Ships. The ship is expected to be delivered to the Army's 7th Sustainment Brigade in 2012. The second ship of the class, the future USNS Vigilant, will be delivered to the Navy the following year. (Source: NNS, 07/23/10) Previous story

First Lady to christen ship in Pascagoula

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - First Lady Michelle Obama will be in Pascagoula this week for the Friday christening of the Coast Guard cutter Stratton at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. Stratton, a 418-foot cutter, is the third in an eight-ship program. It's named after the first commissioned female officer in the Coast Guard. Northrop Grumman announced last year that Michelle Obama would be the sponsor of the Legend class ship. (Source: Mississippi Press, 07/19/10)

Colle Towing has new owner

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Colle Towing, founded in 1878 in Pascagoula, has changed ownership and is now Colle Maritime, a division of Signet Maritime Corp., headquartered in Houston. The change was announced at Tuesday's Port of Pascagoula Board meeting. Colle Towing provides ship docking, marine transportation, vessel construction and repair. (Source: Mississippi Press, 07/14/10)

Atlantic Marine buy finalized

BAE Systems has completed its acquisition of Atlantic Marine Holding Co. after receiving necessary U.S. regulatory approvals. The company announced in May its definitive agreement to acquire Atlantic Marine from JFL-AMH Partners, LLC, a portfolio company of the private-equity firm J.F. Lehman & Co., for a cash consideration of $352 million. The acquired Atlantic Marine operations at Mayport and Jacksonville, Fla., Moss Point, Miss., and Mobile, Ala., employ about 1,000 people and will become known as BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards. This new business provides vessel maintenance, repair, overhaul, and conversion; marine fabrication; and ship construction services. (Source: BusinessWire, 07/13/10)

NOAA ends VT Halter contract

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - NOAA terminated its latest contract with VT Halter Marine for a 110-foot ocean and coastal mapping vessel, the SWATH Ferdinand R. Hassler. The vessel is 98 percent complete and has undergone sea trials in the Gulf. But a dispute with NOAA over how much weight the vessel could carry has led to an impasse and NOAA executed an option to terminate the contract. Halter CEO Bill Skinner said they are still trying to work through the issue, but there's a possibility someone else will finish the job. (Source: Sun Herald, 07/13/10)

NG closing Avondale, may shed shipbuilding

Northrop Grumman is closing its shipyards in Avondale and Tallulah, La., and consolidating its work in Pascagoula, Miss., while it considers shedding all its shipbuilding operations. According to the company, it's exploring "strategic alternatives" for its shipbuilding unit, which also includes Newport News in Virginia. That includes the possible sale or spin off to shareholders. CEO Wes Bush said the company sees little synergy between shipbuilding and its other business. (Sources: Sun-Herald, Mobile Press-Register, Virginia Pilot, Wall Street Journal, 07/13/10)

NG gets tax break

BILOXI, Miss. - Northrop Grumman received a five-year tax exemption Monday for a $16 million improvement project at the company's Gulfport operation. Harrison County supervisors voted 2-1 to grant the property tax break on equipment purchased for the facility. In a statement, Northrop Grumman officials said they purchased a new bridge crane and mold table used in the fabrication of composite structures. The Gulfport facility employs about 550, including 146 whose jobs were created by the purchases. (Source: Sun Herald, 07/12/10)

Jindal worried about Avondale

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal added his voice to concerns that Northrop Grumman may close its shipyard in Avondale, La. The company "has indicated to us that Northrop Grumman does not intend to keep Avondale open for the long term in the absence of a viable Navy shipbuilding program there," Jindal said in an e-mailed statement, according to Bloomberg. When Northrop completes work on the LPD- 17 class transport ships at Avondale in 2012, the company intends to move potential work on the next two ships in the category to its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., Jindal said. (Source: Bloomberg, 07/12/10)