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)

Contract: Sauer, $7M

Sauer Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., is being awarded $7,021,100 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract for the design and construction to renovate three facilities at Stennis Space Center, Miss., including building 3205 and a new stand-alone buoy blast & paint facility for the National Data Buoy Center. Work is expected to be completed by January 2011. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 07/09/09)

Nanoparticle aquatic impact studied

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. – A Gulf Coast Research Laboratory scientist is studying the possible toxic effects of nanoparticles on aquatic life. Robert "Joe" Griffitt, an assistant professor, is investigating a world measured in billionths of a meter. Nanotechnology is a fast-growing segment of the high-tech economy, but there are concerns about the health effect on aquatic life. Griffitt’s research will provide a better understanding. (Source: Mississippi Press, 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)