Contract: VT Halter, $165.4M

VT Halter Marine Inc, Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $165,361,305 not-to-exceed firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract for the detail, design, and construction of the fourth Egyptian navy Fast Missile Craft under the Foreign Military Sales program. The effort will also include technical manuals, crew familiarization training, and technical and supply support. The efforts required include all hardware, software, licensing, design engineering, production engineering, manufacturing, test engineering, technical documentation, training, spares procurement, and program management through delivery. Most of the work, 57 percent, will be done Pascagoula. Other work sites are in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and other locations. Work is expected to be completed by December 2013. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/26/10)

Independence goes on maiden voyage

MOBILE, Ala. - The Navy's newest littoral combat ship, the 419-foot USS Independence (LCS 2), sailed away from Mobile for the first time today. It marks commencement of initial testing and evaluation of the aluminum vessel. Independence's maiden voyage will include stops in Key West and Mayport, Fla., before pulling into Naval Station Norfolk, Va., for additional testing and specialized crew training. LCS features an interchangeable modular design that allows the ship to be reconfigured to meet mission requirements. Independence, the second LCS ship, was commissioned Jan. 16 in Mobile. It will be homeported in San Diego. (Source: NNS, 03/26/10)

Shipyard eyes changing workweek

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Gulf Coast is considering a shift from a four-day workweek to a five-day schedule, according to a letter from Irwin F. Edenzon, vice president and general manager of the shipyard. In December, unions approved a two-year labor contract extension that included pay raises, no change in health care insurance premiums and a $1,000 ratification bonus. The company has about 12,000 employees at its Pascagoula shipyard. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/25/10)

Contract: LPI, $84.1M

LPI Technical Services, Chesapeake, Va., is being awarded a $84,140,685 contract to furnish repair, maintenance, modernization, logistical, and technical support services for material handling equipment and hull, mechanical, and electric machinery and systems in order to ensure continued ship operation and performance. Five percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula, Miss. Other locations are Virginia, Florida, Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey, and Italy. Work is expected to be completed by March 2015. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Ship System Engineering Station, Philadelphia, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/12/10)

Dewey commissioned Saturday

SEAL BEACH, Calif. - A Northrop Grumman-built Aegis guided missile destroyer was commissioned Saturday in California. The USS Dewey, the 26th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built in the company's Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard, was delivered to the Navy in August. DDG 105 is 510 feet long and has four gas-turbine propulsion plants that can power the ship to speeds above 30 knots. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/06/10)

Sperm whale subject of study

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Minerals Management Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologists leave next week for the last of three missions in the northern Gulf of Mexico to study the sperm whale. They'll leave Monday from Singing River Island aboard the NOAA ship Pisces. Little is known about the food source for the largest mammal in the Gulf of Mexico. The Sperm Whale Acoustic Prey Study is being conducted on the 208-foot-long Pisces, built by VT Halter Marine in Moss Point. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/06/10)

GD, Austal part ways on LCS

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA and General Dynamics said they're parting ways in the competition to build littoral combat ships for the Navy. The split means Austal will bid as the lead contractor to build as many as 10 of the ships in the next four years. General Dynamics has been the lead contractor on the first two LCS won by the team, but Austal has been building the ships on the east bank of the Mobile River. The split means General Dynamics can bid separately in 2012 to build the ships. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman is also looking into bidding for LCS work two years from now. That's what its top shipbuilding executive told a House panel Wednesday. The comment was reported by the trade publication Defense News.(Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/05/10)

Fisheries conservationist of year named

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - University of Southern Mississippi fisheries biologist Read Hendon received the 2009 Mississippi Wildlife Federation Fisheries Conservationist of the Year award for his stewardship of the state's marine fisheries resources at a Feb. 27 awards banquet in Jackson, Miss. Hendon, assistant director of the Center for Fisheries Research and Development at Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, was recognized as a key member of the "emerging generation" of Mississippi fisheries researchers, educators and managers. GCRL focuses on research on coastal and marine resources, development of new marine technologies and the education of future scientists and citizens. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 03/03/10)

Director of Marine Mammals Studies named

GULFPORT, Miss. - Dr. Sharon Walker, who headed the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center and Aquarium in Biloxi until it was destroyed by Katrina in 2005, on April 1 becomes director of education and outreach programs at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport. Walker will help in the institute’s transformation into a family attraction that merges the entertainment value of Marine Life, a Katrina casualty, and educational programs of the J. L. Scott. (Source: Sun Herald, 03/02/10)