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)

Giant squid found in Gulf of Mexico

Scientists from NOAA’s Fisheries Service captured a giant squid while conducting research off the Louisiana coast. This is only the second known giant squid obtained from the Gulf of Mexico. The first was collected in 1954. The squid, just over 19 and a half feet long and 103 pounds, was collected on July 30, during a 60-day scientific study by NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center and the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service. The scientists were aboard the NOAA research vessel Gordon Gunter when the squid was caught in a trawl at a depth of more than 1,500 feet. (Source: NOAA, 09/21/09)

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)

Gulf fish farm proposal inches closer

Large-scale commercial fish farming in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico is now a step closer. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday declined to block the plan, despite concerns from some fishing and environmental advocates. That paves the way for the region to be the first to develop open-ocean aquaculture in federal waters. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council earlier this year approved a plan to allow production of native fish, such as snapper and grouper, in underwater cages and pens. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 09/04/09)

Burge retiring from USM

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Cecil Burge is retiring as the University of Southern Mississippi's vice president of research and economic development, effective Dec. 31. A national search for a successor will begin later this fall. Burge has been with Southern Miss for nearly 40 years. During his tenure, external funding topped $100 million for the first time in school history in fiscal year 2007, including more than $40 million in marine aquaculture research. (Source: Hattiesburg American, 09/03/09)