Contract: Northrop Grumman, $43.7M

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $43,739,721 modification to previously awarded contract for lifecycle engineering and support services for LPD 17 class integrated shipboard electronic systems. Services include post-delivery planning, logistics and engineering, homeport technical support, integrated product data environment, data maintenance and much more. Work will be performed in Pascagoula and is expected to be completed by December 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 11/30/10)

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $26.1M

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $26,103,188 cost-plus-fixed fee modification to previously awarded contract to exercise an option for fiscal 2011 class services in support of the DDG 1000 Zumwalt class destroyer. Services included product fabrication, delivery, engineering, and engineering support to integrated power system operations and land-based test site; support for radar cross section and other selected ship signatures; and integrated logistics support. Work will be performed in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss., and is expected to be completed by October 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 11/29/10)

Water closed to royal red shrimping

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has closed 4,213 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters off Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to royal red shrimping. The measure was taken Wednesday night after a commercial shrimper discovered tar balls in his net. Fishing for royal red shrimp is conducted by pulling fishing nets across the bottom of the ocean floor. The tar balls found in the catch may have been entrained in the net as it was dragged along the seafloor. Other fishing at shallower depths in this area has not turned up any tar balls and is thus not impacted by this closure. The tar balls found in the shrimp net are being analyzed by the U.S. Coast Guard to see if they are from the Deepwater Horizon/BP spill, NOAA said. (Source: NOAA, 11/24/10)

Titanium shipbuilding explored

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of New Orleans has been awarded a three-year $4.8 million grant from the Office of Naval Research to advance the science and technology of titanium shipbuilding. The research will focus on the manufacturability and structural performance of a titanium mid-ship section. Both material requirements and advanced welding processes will be investigated. Titanium is more resistant to corrosion than traditional structural steels and aluminum alloys, but lacks robust welding and joining techniques. (Source: Media-Newswire, 11/23/10)

LPD 24 launched

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding launched its newest amphibious transport dock ship Arlington (LPD 24) Tuesday. It's the eighth ship of the USS San Antonio (LPD 17) class of ships, and it's 77 percent complete. The ship's christening is tentatively scheduled for spring of 2011. The LPD 17 ships are 684 feet long and designed to deploy the combat and support elements of Marine expeditionary units and brigades. The ship can carry up to 800 troops and have the capability of transporting and debarking air cushion or conventional landing craft. (Source: Northrop Grumman via GlobeNewswire, 11/24/10)

Is Huntington Ingalls in the future?

Northrop Grumman took another step towards a possible spinoff of its shipbuilding operations in Virginia and Mississippi with another filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The new company would be named Huntington Ingalls Industries, after the founders of Newport News shipyard in Virginia and Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Miss. It would be based in Newport News and be a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. No final decision has been made on whether to opt for the spinoff or to sell the shipbuilding segment. The filing also confirmed plans to close Avondale in Louisiana by 2013 and shift the work to Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss. (Sources: Mississippi Press, Daily Press, Sun Herald, 11/24/10)

Monitors put on sea turtles

GULFPORT, Miss. - The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies will track endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles with satellite monitoring devices and plans to chart their course on a website. Three turtles released Saturday were visible via satellite, and were heading south toward the Chandeleur Islands on Sunday, said Moby Solangi, IMMS president and executive director. Solangi said the research will yield important data on the turtles. (Source: Sun Herald, 11/21/10)

Pascagoula-built ship commissioned

WILMINGTON, N.C. - The Navy's newest Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, USS Gravely (DDG 107), was commissioned in Wilmington, N.C., today. The ceremony honored the late Vice Adm. Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr. About 4,000 people attended the commissioning ceremony held at North Carolina State Ports in Wilmington. (Source: NNS, 11/20/10) Gulf Coast note: The ship was built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. Previous story

Signal gets BP contract

MOBILE, Ala. - Signal International said it's won a contract with BP Exploration and Production Inc. to decontaminate vessels used in response to the Gulf oil spill. More than 100 workers and subcontractors will clean tank barges at Signal's West Yard in Pascagoula, Miss. The value of the contract was not released. Work will run through the end of the year, with a possibility of an extension, company officials said. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 11/17/10)

Science careers topic of lecture

LONG BEACH, Miss. - Career opportunities in science and technology will be the topic of the Issues and Answers lecture Thursday at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach. The lecture is presented by the Sun Herald and Southern Miss Gulf Coast College of Science and Technology. It will be held at 7 p.m. at the Fleming Education Center auditorium. The panel of Southern Miss professors will share information about career opportunities in geography, biology, industrial engineering technology, molecular biology, mathematics and marine science. The event is free and open to the public. (Source: USM, 11/17/10)

Microbes to the rescue

More answers are beginning to surface about what happened the oil that gushed into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP well during the spring and summer. Scientists have tracked how nontoxic elements of oil became dinner for microbes, and that in turn became food for plankton. The study focused on the way carbon specific to the oil moved through the food web. William Graham, a plankton expert at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, said the speed of how the oil components moved through the ecosystem may affect the overall health of the Gulf. Questions still remain on the toxic portion of the oil. The study, released Monday, was funded by the National Science Foundation, Alabama, and BP research funds distributed through the Northern Gulf Institute at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Sources: Mobile Press-Register, AP via Sun Herald, 11/08/10)

Fishing closure hikes population

MOBILE, Ala. - Research suggests the federal closure of the richest portion of the Gulf of Mexico to all fishing during the spring and summer BP oil spill may be responsible for a dramatic increases in the number of marine creatures, from shrimp to sharks. Scientists from Dauphin Island Sea Lab have been surveying Alabama and Mississippi coastal waters for years, and data collected this year shows a three-fold increase in numbers. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 11/07/10)

Maritime Training Center set to open

MOBILE, Ala. - On Monday, Alabama Industrial Development Training will open its new $12 million Maritime Training Center. On the outside the building resembles a freighter loaded with containers from different countries. The inside is split in half, with Austal USA occupying one side of the building and AIDT, an arm of the two-year college system, running the other side. The AIDT side is for those interested in learning shipbuilding skills, and the Austal side will be used by the company for employee training. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 11/07/10) Story on maritime academy in Pascagoula.

Evidence of oil on Gulf floor mounts

While the surface signs of this summer’s oil spill are harder to find, that’s not the case on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. A "multicorer" used to obtain three soil samples, one 140 nautical miles away, one 16 nautical miles from the well and one mid-way, shows a big difference. The soil the furthest away is all mud, while a sample from the intermediate location near Gulfport, Miss., has a thin layer of oil. The one near the well is striped with a bottom layer of mud, a layer that appears to be oil and a top layer of slime that may be oil with bacteria feeding on it. What all this means for sea life is still to be determined. (Source: OnEarth magazine, 11/04/10) Federal scientists have found damage to deep sea corals and other marine life several miles from where the BP well spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists said surveys using remotely operated vehicles down to 4,600 feet and seven miles from the BP well found dead and dying corals, some coated with a brown substance. Further tests are needed to determine if the substance is oil. (Source: AP, 11/05/10)

NG opts for spinoff, not sale of shipbuilding

Northrop Grumman told private-equity firms it's scrapping a plan to sell its shipbuilding business and will instead pursue creating a spinoff. Bids from four private equity concerns fell short of expectations. During the summer Northrop Grumman said it was exploring getting out of the shipbuilding business to focus on its other sectors. The company filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct. 15 to start the process. (Sources: Bloomberg via Sun Herald, Reuters, 11/05/10) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman has shipyards in Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia.

NG to begin LCS module production

Northrop Grumman was awarded a $29 million Navy contract to begin production of three mission module packages for littoral combat ships. Two surface warfare packages and one anti-mine warfare package will be built at a location not yet determined. The first package is scheduled for early 2012 delivery and the others later that year. The current, initial mission packages were designed by the Navy's Warfare Centers in Panama City, Fla., Dahlgren, Va., and San Diego, where they were built. The LCS is based on a modular concept, where different packages can be used based on the mission. The mine countermeasures package, for example, includes the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System, the Remote Minehunting System and the Fire Scout vertical takeoff unmanned air vehicle. The LCS can go to the port where mission packages are staged, off load its current package and replace it with a new one in a few days. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 11/04/10, Mobile Press-Register, 11/05/10) Gulf Coast note: Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., is one of two companies building LCS ships for the Navy; Northrop Grumman Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss; Northrop Grumman has both shipbuilding and aerospace operations in the Gulf Coast.

NOPP presentation scheduled

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The National Oceanographic Partnership Program, which provides funding for collaborative ocean issues research projects, will make a presentation Nov. 15 at Stennis Space Center's Building 1100. Participants will learn more about the program and topics scheduled for funding. NOPP is a collaboration of federal agencies that support ocean research partnerships involving academia, government, industry, and non-governmental organizations. NOPP invests in multiple areas, including oceanographic research and exploration, technology development, resource management, and ocean education. Proposals to the program must have government, university, and private industry partners. The meeting is being hosted by the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology. For more information, contact MsET's Belinda Gill at 228-688-3144. To register. (Source: MsET, 11/04/10)

Navy wants to split LCS contract

The Navy would buy Littoral Combat Ships from both Austal USA and Lockheed Martin under a new proposal by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said Wednesday that the plan would have Austal make 10 of the ships in Mobile, more than doubling its workforce of 1,800. Lockheed’s 10 would be built in Wisconsin by Marinette Marine Corp. The deal, if approved by Congress, would replace an earlier plan by the Navy to pick one of the two competing ship designs. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, NNS, 11/04/10)

Science center topping out date set

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - A "topping out" ceremony has been scheduled for Nov. 17 for the Infinity Science Center being built near NASA's Stennis Space Center. The ceremony marks a milestone in construction of the multimillion-dollar education center, set to open in 2012. In addition to the placing of a tree at the highest part of the structure, there will be remarks by key officials. Infinity, located near the Mississippi-Louisiana state line and the Mississippi Welcome Center along Interstate 10, is designed to interest young people in science, technology, engineering and math, and to increase the public’s understanding of the earth, space and ocean science work done at Stennis Space Center. (Source: Tcp, 11/01/10)