Marine scientiests gather in Biloxi

BILOXI, Miss. - Marine scientists and researchers are meeting in Biloxi this week for the Oceans '09 conference at the coliseum convention center. They're sharing information about ongoing projects and networking with colleagues. South Mississippi has a lot of activity in marine science issues, including the work at Stennis Space Center and the Gulf Coast Research Lab. (Source: WLOX-TV, 10/27/09)

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)

Asian tiger shrimp reported in coastal waters

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Scientists at The University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory are keeping watch for Asian tiger shrimp in coastal waters and are asking local shrimpers to do the same. Within the last month, several have been caught in local waters. The potentially invasive, large shrimp are aggressive toward other shrimp. “These shrimp are in competition for resources needed by our native species and they also carry diseases that can affect both shrimp and crabs,” said Harriet Perry, director of the Center for Fisheries Research and Development at GCRL. “We’ve been aware for some time that these shrimp have been periodically taken in trawls in waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, but these are the first specimens captured in Mississippi waters,” Perry said. The primary concern is the potential transfer of viral diseases to native shrimp. (Source: USM, 10/22/09)

USM program gets donation

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The Department of Marine Science at The University of Southern Mississippi received a donation of Fledermaus 3D visualization and software licenses from Interactive Visualization Systems for a third consecutive year. The licenses, nearly a $200,000 value, are to be used by the university’s hydrographic science graduate degree program, one of a select group of internationally recognized accredited hydrographic training programs. (Source: USM, 10/21/09)

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)

GCRL site for ocean policy task force

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory will serve as one of four satellite access sites for a video conference by a federal task force charged with helping recommend a national policy on oceans, coasts and Great Lakes issues. The meeting of the Gulf Coast Regional Ocean Policy Task Force is Monday from 3:30 to 7 p.m., and will be broadcast live from the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. Other satellite locations are at Dauphin Island, Ala.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and St. Petersburg, Fla. The group will hold six meetings across the United States before drafting an ocean policy plan by December. An interim report last month noted the need to address issues such as overfishing, wetlands loss and nutrient pollution in rivers that leads to problems such as the Gulf of Mexico's perennial "dead zone." (Sources: Mississippi Press, 10/18/09; New Orleans Times-Picayune, 10/16/09)

White to head oceanography command

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead announced Friday that Rear Adm. (lower half) Jonathan W. White will be assigned as commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command at John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss. White is currently serving as chief of staff of the command. (Source: DefenseLink, 10/16/09) Note: NASA's Stennis Space Center is best known for testing the space agency's rockets, but the Navy is the single largest tenant at the center in South Mississippi. In addition to the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, it's also home to the Naval Oceanographic Office, a Naval Research Laboratory detachment and special warfare operations.

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)