Command shipping out

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Navy Reserve Forces Command will officially pull up anchor Friday for its new home in Norfolk, Va., ending 36 years of a national naval headquarters presence in New Orleans. For the first time in almost a century the Navy will not have an admiral based in the city. The Navy remains in the region through the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center near the University of New Orleans and the Marine Forces Reserve. The closing is part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 04/25/09)

VT Halter chief dies

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – The chief executive officer of VT Halter Marine, Boyd E. King, died Monday at Singing River Hospital. He was 65. King, who retired as a brigadier general in 1998 after 35 years of service in the Army, was appointed CEO in 2003. VT Halter Marine operates a yard at Pascagoula and two at Moss Point, building commercial and government vessels. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/21/09)

GCRL opens new facility

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Lab will soon open a new facility, the Marine Environmental Research Laboratory, at Cedar Point to study marine animals and their environment. About a dozen buildings are under construction or finished at the 200-acre site near the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Dr. Jeff Lotz, chairman of the Department of Coastal Sciences at GCRL, expects a ribbon-cutting in the fall. (Source: The Sun Herald, 04/20/09)

LHD 8 delivered to Navy

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding delivered to the Navy the amphibious-assault ship Makin Island (LHD 8) during a short ceremony Thursday on the flight deck. Makin Island is the eighth USS Wasp-class amphibious assault ship built in Pascagoula. It’s 844 feet long, 106 feet wide and has a speed in excess of 20 knots. It has the first gas turbine/electric-powered propulsion system ever used on large deck amphibious assault ships. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 04/16/09)

Austal trims workforce

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA laid off 15 employees Friday and plans to cut another 47 jobs. The cuts are due to Austal finishing work on a second ferry and a contract Austal expected falling through. After the layoffs, Austal will employ 1,067 workers at its Mobile River shipyard. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 04/11/09)

Mobile maritime museum breaks ground

MOBILE, Ala. - Groundbreaking was held Thursday for GulfQuest, a $36 million maritime museum on the downtown Mobile waterfront. GulfQuest, the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, will be between the Convention Center and Alabama cruise terminal. The museum, slated to open in 2011, will feature interactive exhibits. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/09/09) Gulf Coast note: Pensacola, Fla., also hopes to build a maritime museum at a proposed multi-purpose maritime park.

IG raises reporting issues

The Navy wrongly reported tens of billions of dollars in shipbuilding equipment as expenses instead of construction costs, the Pentagon Inspector General says. The IG also questions the Navy’s system of ship evaluation and says some of the service’s internal controls are lacking. (Source: Aviation Week, 04/09/09)

Northrop, GD reach ship agreement

The New York Times is reporting that Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics agreed on Wednesday to a deal clearing the way for three DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers to be built at GD-owned Bath Iron Works in Maine. The newspaper cites Pentagon officials. Northrop, which planned to build one of the destroyers in Pascagoula, Miss., will contribute major components to the ships. In return, Northrop will restart production of DDG-51s, an older model destroyer, in Pascagoula. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates had said Monday that if the two companies could not reach an agreement, only one DDG-1000 stealth ship would be purchased by the Navy. (Source: New York Times, 04/08/09)

Fire Scout preps for final exam

Fire Scout unmanned helicopters will be ready for their first deployment later this year, paving the way to full-rate production, possibly before 2010. A story in the April issue of Seapower said two Fire Scouts will be aboard the guided missile frigate USS McInerney when it deploys with the Fourth Fleet to the Southern Command’s area of operations. Fire Scouts, built in part in Moss Point, Miss., were intended for use on Littoral Combat Ships, but delays in that program prompted the Navy to test the system on a frigate. (Source: Seapower, April 2009) Gulf Coast note: Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., is building one of the LCS prototypes.

Gates wants just three DDG-1000s

Defense Secretary Robert Gates affirmed Monday the Pentagon’s plan to end production of the DDG-1000 Zumwalt destroyers at three ships, but he wants them built by Bath Iron Works in Maine. He also wants to restart production of the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class at Northrop Grumman' shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Gates also announced plans to order three littoral combat ships instead of two in the coming fiscal year. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/06/09)

Cargo ships to park at former base

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - A New England company will park two cargo ships at the former naval base on Singing River Island so they can be call upon for the government in case of a national emergency. Jackson County Port Authority Tuesday approved a sublease contract with Reading, Mass.-based Darkwater Marine Services to berth the ready reserve fleet vessels. The agreement goes to the Jackson County Board of Supervisors on Monday. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/01/09)