Contract: Northrop Grumman, $184M

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded an $184,000,507 modification to previously awarded contract for the procurement of materials in support of LPD 26, the 10th ship in the LPD 17 amphibious transport dock ship class. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and is expected to be completed by August 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/30/10)

Omega Protein temporarily moves ships

HOUSTON - Omega Protein Corp., producer of Omega-3 fish oil and specialty fish meal products, has implemented an Incident Response Plan for its Moss Point, Miss., facility to minimize effects from the oil spill caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. The plan is intended to minimize vessel downtime and business interruptions. The company believes the oil slick temporarily could effect on its ability to operate in the fishing grounds east of the Mississippi River Delta, near its Moss Point facility. Starting April 30, Omega Protein will relocate its nine Moss Point fishing vessels and three carry vessels to fishing grounds on the west side of the Mississippi River Delta in Louisiana. This relocation is expected to last up to four weeks. (Source: PRNewswire via MarketWatch, 04/29/10)

Oil slick threatens fisheries, tourism

Fishermen and tourism businesses in the northeast Gulf of Mexico dread the nightmare possibility that a huge oil spill could wreck their livelihoods if it reaches shore. The oyster season is ending and shrimp season is set to begin. As the Coast Guard and oil company BP struggle to contain the slick from a blown-out well off Louisiana, states are deploying fire-retardant booms and other measures to protect their coastlines. The slick threatens the eastern shores of Louisiana and could also affect coastal waters in Mississippi, Alabama and northwest Florida. The slick could also hit the tourism sector that is vital to Gulf Coast economies. (Source: Reuters, 04/29/10)

BAE Systems eyes Atlantic Marine

The Financial Times has reported that BAE Systems wants to expand its ship repair operations in the United States. It recently held talks to buy Atlantic Marine, owned by the JF Lehman private equity group. A deal would add Atlantic Marine's shipyards along the Gulf Coast and East Coast to BAE's operations. (Source: Financial Times, 04/27/10) Gulf Coast note: Atlantic Marine has a shipyard in Mobile, Ala., on Pinto Island. Other yards are in Jacksonville and Mayport, Fla., Boston and Philadelphia; BAE Systems has several operations in the Gulf Coast.

Tug contracts awarded

Trinity Yachts subsidiary Trinity Offshore, both of Gulfport, Miss., has been awarded contracts worth more than $27 million to build two RAstar 3100 terminal support/escort tugs for Colle Maritime Co., of Pascagoula, Miss. Colle Maritime, a joint venture between Signet Maritime Corp. and Colle Towing Co., is having the tugs built to fulfill a 20-year contract to provide marine support services to Angola LNG Supply Services in the Port of Pascagoula. The tugs will be built over 17 months in Trinity's Gulfport shipyard and are expected to be delivered in September of 2011. (Sources: Offshore Shipping, MarineLog, 04/27/10, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 04/28/10)

NG picks Virginia for HQ

Northrop Grumman will locate its new corporate office in Virginia, concluding a search that also included the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. Northrop Grumman is negotiating with several building owners in the Falls Church/Arlington area. The company expects to initiate operations in the new corporate office in the summer of 2011 with about 300 people. The move of corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to the Washington area is designed to let the company be closer to its primary customer, the Pentagon. Northrop Grumman has 120,000 employees and is involved in the aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services sectors. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 04/26/10) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman has a major presence on the Gulf Coast, including shipyards and an unmanned systems center.

LPD 26 to be named Murtha

The Navy’s 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, LPD 26, will be named after the late Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania. The formal announcement was made by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus last week in Johnstown, Pa., at the John P. Murtha Johnstown-Cambia County airport. The ship will be built by Northrop Grumman in Avondale, La. The naming breaks the current tradition of naming the ships after U.S. cities. (Source: NNS, 04/23/10)

Dolphin population re-established

Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, dolphins have re-established their homes, based on the research of a University of Southern Mississippi professor and his students. The findings of Dr. Stan Kuczaj, professor of psychology and director of the Southern Miss Marine Mammal Behavior and Cognition Laboratory, were featured in an article published in Marine Mammal Science. A dramatic increase in the number of dolphin calves in the Mississippi Sound were documented by Kuczaj’s team two years following the Aug. 29, 2005 storm. Kuczaj’s team believes the decrease in commercial and recreational fishing following Katrina may have resulted in increased fish populations for the dolphins to prey upon, which in turn could have resulted in more successful births. The researchers also found that dolphin foraging is sometimes interrupted by boats, and so the reduction of boat traffic following Katrina may have allowed the dolphins to be more efficient hunters. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 04/23/10)

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $114M

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded an $114,003,000 modification to previously awarded contract to exercise the option for long lead time material in support of the construction of DDG 114 under the DDG 51 class destroyer program. This contract provides propulsion gas turbines, generators, controllable pitch propeller, and other components to support construction of DDG 113 and DDG 114. Work is anticipated to be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio (32 percent); Walpole, Mass. (30 percent); Charlottesville, Va. (11 percent); Erie, Pa. (7 percent); Anaheim, Calif. (7 percent); Warminster, Pa. (2 percent); and various locations (11 percent). The effort is anticipated to start immediately with a base period of performance ending 37 months after contract award. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/23/10)

Bender auction scheduled

MOBILE, Ala. - Millions of pounds of steel, copper and other scrap metal, along with cranes, barges and equipment from Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. will be auctioned in mid-May in downtown Mobile. Bender had been a fixture of the Mobile riverfront for more than 90 years before it declared bankruptcy in June. In January Signal International LLC bought Bender's Mobile shipyard for $31.25 million in a special auction for companies in Chapter 11. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 04/21/10)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $15M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $15,000,000 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, in support of the Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems. Twenty-two percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula, Miss. Work will also be performed in Moorestown, N.J., Bath, Maine, San Diego, Calif., Washington, D.C., Norfolk, Va., Port Hueneme, Calif., and Syracuse, N.Y., and is expected to be completed by September 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/20/10)

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $9.8M

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $9,818,797 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract for the calendar year 2010 government-furnished equipment workshare transportation of class products associated with the DDG 1000 Zumwalt class destroyer. This contract modification procures the labor and material required to fabricate cradles, fixtures, pedestals, etc., required to support the transportation of class products to Bath, Maine, in order to meet critical construction milestones. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and Gulfport, Miss., and is expected to be completed December 2010. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/19/10)

Groundbreaking to be announced soon

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - A groundbreaking date for the $20 million shipbuilding and metal trades academy planned near Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding will be announced in the next several months. Gov. Haley Barbour announced in early 2009 plans to spend the Hurricane Katrina money on the academy. Northrop Grumman will be the main tenant, but VT Halter Marine and Signal International will also use the facility. About nine acres on the west side of Jerry St. Pet Highway have been set aside for the project. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/19/10)

Destroyer christened in Pascagoula

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, William P. Lawrence, DDG-110, was christened during a ceremony Saturday at the Northrop Grumman shipyard. The ceremony attracted about 1,000 people, including Navy dignitaries and former prisoners of war. Ross Perot spoke at the event. The ship is the 60th destroyer in the Arleigh Burke class, and the 28th built in Pascagoula. The 9,200-ton, 509-foot destroyer has four gas turbine engines. The ship commemorates Navy Vice Adm. William P. Lawrence, a Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and served as the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from 1978-83. (Sources: WLOX-TV, 04/17/10, Mississippi Press, 04/18/10)

C&G Boat Works gets grant

MOBILE, Ala. - C&G Boat Works Inc. received a $1.2 million grant from the Maritime Administration for a new 220-ton crawler crane. The grant was one of 17 given out through the administrations Assistance to Small Shipyards program. The crane can be used on every project the shipyard undertakes, the company said. C&G employs about 200 people at its Mobile River shipyard. The company is building five U.S. Navy patrol ships left in a six-ship contract, along with two tugs, a riverboat and a ferry. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 04/17/10)

Barges to be finished by VT Halter

MOBILE, Ala. - Two unfinished vessels that played a role in the collapse of Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. are being completed by VT Halter Marine in Moss Point, Miss. Halter last week announced that it signed a $21 million contract with subsidiaries of Overseas Shipholding Group to complete two 8,000-ton articulated tug barges. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/14/10)

Keel laid for Egyptian ship

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - A keel laying ceremony was held Wednesday at VT Halter Marine to mark construction of an Egyptian ship. The state of the art missile ship will be 200 feet long and is designed to perform coastal patrol, surveillance, interdiction, surface strike and naval battle group support. VT Halter will build four of the ships for Egypt for $807 million. The first vessel is scheduled to be finished by mid 2012, and the fourth should be done by year-end of 2013. (Sources: Mississippi Press, WLOX-TV, 04/08/10)

Science center signing ceremony set

GULFPORT, Miss. - A signing ceremony for the contract to build a 72,000 square foot state-of-the-art science center near NASA's Stennis Space Center will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Hancock Bank Board Room in downtown Gulfport. Roy Anderson Corp. will start construction May 1. The center to be located along Interstate 10 near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line is expected to be a big tourist draw. Infinity is designed to highlight the activities at Stennis Space Center and inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers in the fields of earth, ocean and space science. (Source: Infinity Science Center Inc., 04/05/10)

Lab takes on red snapper production

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - A 5,260-square-foot building under construction at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory's Cedar Point site will play a vital role in red snapper stock enhancement. Red snapper is considered overfished by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Once the $1.3 million NOAA-funded red snapper laboratory is up and running it will produce 70,000 to 180,000 fish per year. GCRL is part of the University of Southern Mississippi. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/05/10)

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $17.1M

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Bethpage, N.Y., is being awarded a $17,132,243 modification to previously awarded contract to provide engineering and production planning services for mission packages that will deploy from and integrate with the Littoral Combat Ship. The Navy's plan is to use continuous evaluation of system maturity through a disciplined system engineering framework to improve mission capability in identified mission areas. LCS mission packages will be optimized for flexibility in the littorals. Mission package capabilities are currently focused on primary mission areas of mine warfare emphasizing mine countermeasures, littoral anti-submarine warfare, and littoral surface warfare operations including prosecution of small boats. The LCS mission packages are developed and acquired separately from the LCS Sea Frame. Twelve percent of the work will be done in Panama City, Fla. Other work sites are in New York, Washington, D.C., Maryland, California and Virginia, and is expected to be completed by March 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/02/10)

Northrop changes shipyard workweek

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding said today that beginning May 31, all the company's Gulf Coast facilities will change their work schedule to a five-day, eight-hour workweek from a four-day, 10-hour workweek. The company had worked the four-day workweek since late 2004. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Gulf Coast facilities are in Gulfport and Pascagoula as well as Avondale and Tallulah, La. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/01/10)