Zumwalt: Testbed or more?

Is the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer a science project testbed or a technologically advanced destroyer needed by the fleet? That's the issue raised in a story in Aviation Week, which points out that the answer depends on who is asked. The ship being built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine is using a lot of new technologies, including a hybrid drive, composite deckhouse and new guns, and construction is running ahead of schedule. (Source: Aviation Week, 12/28/11) Gulf Coast note: Ingalls Shipbuilding's Composites Center of Excellence in Gulfport, Miss., is building the Zumwalt's integrated composite deckhouse, helicopter hangars and parts of the ship's peripheral vertical launch systems.

Ingalls, subcontractors cited

Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., and five subcontractors have been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 50 safety and health violations. OSHA proposed a penalty of $176,444. Violations included blocked exits, tripping and fall hazards and more. The companies have up to 15 business days to appeal the citations. The inspection resulted from a complaint made in June. (Sources: multiple, including Sun Herald, Mississippi Press, 12/28/11)

Navy gets nod for ferries

The Navy received approval to spend up to $35 million to buy both Austal USA-built super ferries from the U.S. Maritime Administration, according to published reports. The Huakai and Alakia, both built in Mobile, Ala., will be transferred to the Navy if the bill is signed by the president. The ferries were originally built to transport people and goods around the Hawaiian islands. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, Virginian Pilot, 12/23/11) Previous post

Shipbuilder adding 500 workers

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Eastern Shipbuilding Group is adding 500 new jobs to fill two new contracts. The company needs to extra worker because of two contracts to build 13 supply vessels. One is for Brazil's Boldini S.A., and the other for Hornbeck Offshore. Eastern Shipbuilding is one of the largest employers in Bay County. (Source: Panama City News Herald, 12/20/11)

Contract: Austal Chartering, $8.2M

Austal Hull 130 Chartering LLC, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded an $8,225,850 fixed-price contract for the worldwide charter of one U.S.-flagged passenger/cargo ferry. The ferry will support the Marine Corps Third Marine Expeditionary Force. This contract includes three six-month option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $30,321,200. Work will be performed at sea in the Far East, and is expected to be completed by August 2012; with options exercised, by January 2014. This contract was competitively procured via Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities websites, with three offers received. Commander, Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/21/11)

Contract: Alion, $73.2M

Alion Science and Technology, Burr Ridge, Ill, has been awarded a $73,238,387 not-to-exceed letter contract for professional support services in support of surface warfare fleet support. This contract is a bridge contract intended to continue professional support services in support of surface warfare fleet support during the interim between the expiration of current, competitively awarded, SEAPORT-e contract and the award of a follow-on, competitively awarded SEAPORT-e contract. Work is expected to be performed in Washington, D.C. (56 percent); Norfolk, Va. (23 percent); San Diego, Calif. (6 percent); Pascagoula, Miss. (6 percent); Bath, Maine (3 percent); Mayport, Fla. (2 percent); Japan (2 percent) and other locations less than 1 percent (2 percent) and is expected to be completed by November 2012. Contract funds in the amount of $22,911,792 will be provided at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/20/11)

LPD 22 delivered to Navy

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Huntington Ingalls Industries delivered the company's sixth amphibious transport dock, San Diego (LPD 22), to the Navy at a brief ceremony at Ingalls Shipbuilding Monday. The ship recently completed acceptance sea trials with the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey observing. Ingalls' test and trials team tested the ship's main propulsion, steering, communications suite and deck missions systems. Some of the crew members were aboard for acceptance trials; the full crew will move aboard the ship the first week of January. The 684-foot long LPD 22 is scheduled to be commissioned in the spring of 2012 in San Diego. Its principal mission is to deploy the combat and support elements of Marine Expeditionary Units and Brigades. (Source: Huntington Ingalls, 12/19/11)

Contract: Austal USA, $7.9M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $7,917,425 modification to previously awarded contract to exercise an option for core Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class services for the LCS program. Austal USA will assess engineering, baseline, and configuration management services in support of the basic construction, post delivery, test and trials phases of the LCS class. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (30 percent); Pittsfield, Mass. (30 percent); Malvern, Pa. (20 percent); Newport News, Va. (13 percent); and various locations of less than two percent each, totaling (7 percent). Work is expected to be completed by December 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/19/11)

Training academy gets Barbour name

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- A maritime training facility being built at Ingalls Shipbuilding will be named after Gov. Haley Barbour. Work on the 76,000-square-foot Haley Reeves Barbour Maritime Training Academy could begin as early as January and completed in 18 months. The academy, funded through a Hurricane Katrina community development block grant, is meant to provide a skilled workforce and help Ingalls expand its two- to four-year apprentice program to about 1,000 students. (Source: Mississippi Press, 12/16/11)

Mobile ranked 34 on Milken list

Mobile, Ala., is ranked 34, Pensacola, Fla., 73, and New Orleans 101 in the 2011 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index of 200 large metro areas. All three moved up in the index, designed to show performance of 379 large and small metro areas in creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth, including technology growth. Mobile last year was 59, Pensacola 116 and New Orleans 123. In the list of 179 small metro areas, Pascagoula, Miss., is ranked 40, Panama City, Fla., is 73, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is 75, and Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., 79. Gulfport's ranking is an improvement over last year's 101 ranking. Pascagoula, Panama City and Fort Walton Beach dropped from 26, 49 and 73, respectively. The Gulf Coast is a major shipbuilding region. (Source: Tcp, 12/15/11) Milken data link

South Miss hotspot for defense jobs

A new report ranks South Mississippi as one of the top five less-known regions in the country for defense jobs. The report released Tuesday by ClearanceJobs.com said defense spending, notably in shipbuilding and aerospace, helped rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina. The report said South Mississippi has jobs for rocket scientists, oceanographers, cyber-security personnel, geospatial analysts, technical trainers and test engineers. South Mississippi is home to NASA's Stennis Space Center, and the Navy is a big tenant. It's also home to the Navy Seabees, Keesler Air Force Base and major shipbuilding activities. Detroit, Omaha, Neb., Seattle, and Mohawk Valley in upstate New York also were named in the top five. (Source: Sun Herald, PRNewswire, 12/13/11)

BAE to provide DDG comm system

ST. INIGOES, Md. -- BAE Systems received a $37 million contract to design, install and test onboard radio communications and network capability for the U.S. Navy's new DDG 113 and DDG 114 destroyers, both being built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. The installed technology will include multi-spectrum radio sets, antenna systems and baseband switching, as well as data-link modems and message distribution services. BAE Systems has provided onboard communications for 62 destroyers and 27 cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system. Work will be done primarily at Navy facilities in St. Inigoes and at nearby BAE Systems offices. (Source: BAE Systems, 12/08/11)

Undersea robots get smarter

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Underwater robots that can make their own decisions? According to the Office of Naval Research, scientists have successfully transitioned fundamental research in autonomy to undersea gliders, demonstrating in sea tests in the Pacific how the new software can help robots become smarter at surveying large swaths of ocean. "Using the new algorithms, the vehicle has a greater ability to make its own decisions without requiring a human in the loop," said Marc Steinberg, program officer for ONR's Adaptive Networks for Threat and Intrusion Detection or Termination. With plans to deploy squadrons of air, surface and undersea robotic vehicles later this decade, the Navy is investing in basic research programs to improve autonomous system capabilities. (Source: NNS, 12/02/11) Gulf Coast note: The Naval Oceanographic Office at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., operates a fleet of underwater vehicles; the ONR's Naval Research Lab has a detachment at SSC.

Funding sought for Ingalls facility

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Jackson County Supervisors agreed to make a proposal to the Mississippi Development Authority for up to $20 million for a test facility at Ingalls Shipbuilding. If the state likes the proposal, it will invite a full-funding application. The multimillion-dollar facility would be built on the west bank of the shipyard and would be used for pre-installation assembly, integration and testing of ship components and equipment. (Source: Mississippi Press, 11/06/11)

Training facility moves forward

Work on a multimillion-dollar maritime training facility could begin in January. The Board of Supervisors and Port Authority's Board of Commissioners are expected to pass a joint resolution Monday to award a $15.6 million construction contract to Mobile, Ala.-based Ben M. Radcliff Contractor Inc. The 76,000-square-foot facility on Ingalls property will take 18 months to build. The project, funded through a Hurricane Katrina community development block grant, will help Ingalls expand its two- to four-year apprentice program to about 1,000 students. (Source: Mississippi Press, 12/04/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $46M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $46,079,303 contract modification to previously awarded contract to procure long lead time material and related support for DDG 1002 products construction. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss. (28 percent); Benicia, Calif. (24 percent); Burns Harbor, Ind. (10 percent); Corona, Calif. (9 percent); Monroe, Conn. (4 percent); Deerpark, Texas (3 percent); Patterson, N.J. (3 percent); and other various locations with less than 1 percent of the total (19 percent). Work is expected to complete by March 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/02/11)

Ingalls to cut 500 positions

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Ingalls Shipbuilding plans to reduce its workforce by 500 people, the company said. Ingalls announced a "a voluntary reduction-in-force offer" will be made to non-union employees in Pascagoula. Jobs would include engineers or those who work in the human resources or finance department, among others. The company blamed it on cost pressures in anticipation of declining shipbuilding budgets. (Source: Sun Herald, 12/02/11)

Sub to be christened Saturday

The attack submarine USS Mississippi will be christened Saturday in a ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., the Navy said. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus will deliver the principal address. The ship, the fifth to be named after the state, is scheduled to be commissioned in Gulfport, Miss., June 2, 2012. (Source: Sun Herald, 12/02/11)

Contract extension OKd

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Union workers at Ingalls shipyard Thursday voted to extend their current labor contract for three years. Workers will get a $1,000 bonus before Christmas and three raises over the next three years. They also will have to shoulder higher health care costs, which will be increased by increments, over the next three years. The contract applies to the Pascagoula and Gulfport yards as well as Avondale, La. (Source: Sun Herald, 12/01/11)

Pollution response training held

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday conducted pollution response training for the deployment of the Spilled Oil Recovery System in Pensacola Bay. Members from the Eighth Coast Guard District Response Advisory Team, Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team and Coast Guard Sector Mobile, Ala., deployed aboard the USCG Cutter Cypress, a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender homeported in Mobile. The exercise is to test and improve the Coast Guard's ability to assemble and deploy the Cypress' SORS to recover surface oil from the water after a spill or release. Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil Spill, all Coast Guard sea-going buoy tenders have to be equipped with oil skimming systems. The Cypress has a crew of 50. (Source: U.S. Coast Guard, 11/30/11)

Union members vote Thursday

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Union workers at Ingalls Shipbuilding vote Thursday on a company offer to extend the current contract. Ingalls is offering three raises and a one-time $1,000 bonus next month if workers will vote to extend their work contract for three years. Health care premiums will go up by increments each year and the bonus, which will be subject to taxes and deductions, will replace a cost-of-living adjustment due next year. If the workers turn down the offer, the unions would go into a full contract negotiation in March. (Source: Sun Herald, 11/29/11)

Coast Guard cutter launched

The U.S. Coast Guard announced the launch of its third Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter, the William Flores, at Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La. The launch of the 154-foot cutter into the waters of Bayou Lafourche marks a production milestone as the Fast Response Cutter readies for sea trials, delivery, crew training and eventual commissioning. The William Flores is scheduled to be delivered and commissioned in 2012. The cutter will be homeported in Miami, with a crew of 24 to conduct alien migrant interdiction operations, port, waterways and coastal security patrols, search and rescue and national defense missions. (Source: U.S. Coast Guard, 11/29/11)

Work boat show set to begin

NEW ORLEANS -- The International WorkBoat Show, called the largest maritime trade show in North America, gets under way Wednesday at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The event is expected to draw 13,000 visitors, and organizers expected 1,000 exhibitors showing their products and meeting with customers and other vendors. On Tuesday there's a separate one-day summit that includes a roundtable and networking opportunities. (Source: New Orleans Times Picayune, 11/27/11)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $11.7M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Baltimore, Md., is being awarded an $11,683,081 modification to previously awarded contract for MK 41 Vertical Launching System ordnance alteration kits, production support material, interim support parts, and equipment in support of DDG 51 class new construction, Aegis modernization programs, and Aegis ashore programs. The MK 41 VLS provides a missile launching system for CG 47 and DDG 51 class surface combatants of the Navy, surface combatants of allied navies, and Aegis ashore requirements for Missile Defense Agency's Ground Ballistic Missile Defense Program. The MK 41 VLS is the primary missile launching system aboard Navy combatants used to store, safe, inventory and launch missiles of various types. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Md. (41.1 percent); Lewisburg, Tenn. (19.1 percent); Ft Walton Beach, Fla. (18.8 percent); Johnstown, Pa. (9.2 percent); Simpsonville, S.C. (5.5 percent); Clearwater, Fla. (3.2 percent); and Sterling Heights, Mich. (3.1 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 11/23/11)

Contract: HII, $51.3M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $51,342,168 modification to previously awarded contract for life cycle engineering and support services for Landing Platform Dock 17 class integrated shipboard electronic systems. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and is expected to be completed by December 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 11/22/11)

CID stands up commands

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Center for Information Dominance stood up two new commands Nov. 14. The request for the new commands, the Center for Information Dominance Unit (CIDU) Corry Station and CIDU Monterey, was approved by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Oct. 31. The new commands are in response to the "expanded size of the detachment and assigned cyber training mission." Annually, CID Unit Corry Station, Pensacola, Fla., trains about 9,000 Navy and Joint Cryptologists, Information Systems Technicians and Information Warfare and Information Professional officers, while CID Unit Monterey, Calif., trains about 1,200 Cryptologic Technicians and Foreign Language Officers. In remarks during the stand-up ceremony at Corry Station, CID Commanding Officer Capt. Susan K. Cerovsky compared the shore-based commands to that of a newly-commissioned ship. With a staff of nearly 1,300 military, civilian and contracted staff members, CID Corry Station oversees the development and administration of more than 168 courses at four commands, two detachments and 16 learning sites throughout the United States and in Japan. CID Corry Station provides training for about 24,000 members of the U.S. Armed Services and allied forces each year. (Source: NNS, 11/21/11) Note: Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss., is the Air Force's center for electronics training, including cyber security.

Navy wants superferries

NORFOLK, Va. - The Navy is working with the U.S. Maritime Administration to permit the transfer of two high-speed superferries, the Alakai and the Huakai, into naval service, according to a Navy spokeswoman. The Maritime Administration took over the two Hawaiian superferries, both built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., in July 2009 after a bankruptcy judge ruled that the owner could abandon them to lenders. The administration, which guaranteed the loans, moved them to Norfolk and eventually bought the vessels. Huakai was used in the military's relief efforts after the Haiti earthquake in January 2010. The Navy first expressed interest in the ships when the Maritime Administration took them in 2009. Built to move cars and people among the Hawaiian Islands, the ferries can cruise at 35 knots and carry 836 passengers and 282 cars. The Maritime Administration said Friday that a deal had yet to be reached. (Source: Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 11/21/11)

Navy updates sci-tech priorities

WASHINGTON - The Office of Naval Research has released the latest update to the Naval Science and Technology Strategic Plan. It reflects future naval requirements, including a new emphasis on autonomous systems. "Our superiority at sea demands that we maintain superiority in science, engineering and technology," said Sean J. Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. Key areas of difference between the 2011 biannual plan and the 2009 version include a new emphasis on accelerating insertion of mature technologies to the fleet and consolidating 13 “S&T Focus Areas” into nine, including the new category of Autonomy and Unmanned Systems. It also places an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics initiatives aimed at increasing the talent pool of future naval scientists and engineers. ONR provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological advantage. (Source: NNS, 11/17/11) Gulf Coast note: The region is involved in unmanned systems and is also home to a Naval Research Lab detachment at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

LPD 22 finishes acceptance trial

LPD 22. Ingalls photo

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that the company's sixth amphibious transport dock, San Diego (LPD 22), successfully completed its Navy acceptance trial this week. The ship returned to Ingalls Shipbuilding Thursday after a two-day sea trial. With the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey observing, Ingalls' test and trials team tested the ship's main propulsion, steering, communications suite and deck missions systems. Many tests, including anchor handling, ballasting/de-ballasting the well deck and ventilation systems were performed while at sea. Shipbuilders will spend the next month putting the final touches on LPD 22 before the amphibious transport dock ship delivers in mid-December. (Source: Huntington Ingalls via GlobNewswire, 11/18/11)

Shipyard workers get details

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Workers at Ingalls Shipbuilding this morning received flyers outlining the terms of a proposed 3-year contract extension between all unions at the Pascagoula facility and the shipyard. The extension would take the contract to March 8, 2015 and includes three wage increases and a $1,000 bonus in lieu of cost of living adjustments. Union members will vote Dec. 1. (Source: Sun Herald, 11/18/11)

Signal to repair rig

MOBILE, Ala. - Signal International, headquartered in Mobile, will repair an oil rig damaged off the coast of west Africa, the company said. Signal sent a crew to Port Gentil in Gabon to help transport the Hercules 185 jack-up rig across the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico to the company's Pascagoula, Miss., repair yard. It's expected to arrive Nov. 29. Signal will hire up to 300 workers over the next month or two to complete the job and others. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 11/17/11)

Two shipbuilders land contracts

VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, Miss., and Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, Fla., each were chosen to build eight offshore supply vessels for Covington, La.-based Hornbeck Offshore Services, according to the company. The Mississippi Press reports that Hornbeck's contracts with the two companies for 16 vessels is valued at some $720 million. (Source: Mississippi Press, 11/17/11)

Ingalls to offer contract extension

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Ingalls Shipbuilding confirmed to the Sun Herald that it's going to offer workers a three-year contract extension. The details of the proposal have been negotiated between the company and union leaders and will be explained in a flier to be handed out Friday beginning with the first shift at 6 a.m. Workers who are members of a union will have an opportunity to vote on this issue Dec. 1. (Source: Sun Herald, 11/17/11)

Keel laid for first DDG 1000

DDG 1000. U.S. Navy illustration

BATH, Maine - The Navy laid the keel Thursday for its first Zumwalt-class destroyer, DDG 1000, at General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine. Keel laying was once traditionally the formal recognition of the start of the ship's construction, but today's modular shipbuilding allows fabrication of the ship to begin months before. Still, the keel laying remains the ceremonial beginning of the ship. Construction of DDG 1000 began in February 2009, and it's now more than 60 percent complete and scheduled for delivery in fiscal year 2014. Construction on the second ship began in March 2010. (Source: NNS, 11/17/11) Gulf Coast note: Ingalls' Composites Center of Excellence in Gulfport, Miss., is building the DDG deckhouses, helicopter hangars and parts of the ships' peripheral vertical launch systems. (Feature story on the composite center)

Tank-raised trout released

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. – The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory released thousands of young trout into local waters Tuesday as part of a replenishing program. A portable fish tank brought 12,000 speckled trout fingerlings from the lab to the Cedar Point boat launch. The fingerlings were released into the estuary waters of the Bay of St. Louis. The lab’s trout re-stocking program was launched several years ago. The fish are raised in tanks then released to replenish wild stock. (Source: WLOX-TV, 09/27/11)

Study: Home prices will suffer from closing

NEW ORLEANS - Realtors expect home values to fall by more than 20 percent on the west bank with the closing of the Avondale Shipyard. Most think home prices across the metropolitan area will also be affected. That's according to a study by the Avondale Shipyard Research Project, a consortium of four universities. During initial interviews at the Avondale Shipyard, workers immediately started expressing concerns about housing. Last year, Northrop Grumman said it would close the 5,000-worker shipyard in 2013. The yard, which is down to 3,000 workers, is now owned by Huntington Ingalls, which was spun off from Northrop Grumman. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, AFL-CIO, 09/26/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $698M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $697,629,899 fixed-price-incentive contract for DDG 114 construction. On June 15, 2011, Huntington Ingalls was awarded a $783,572,487 fixed-price-incentive contract for DDG 113 construction. At the time of contract award, the Navy did not release the contract award amount because it was considered source selection information. For DDG 114 construction, significant amounts of work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Walpole, Mass.; York, Pa.; Charlottesville, Va.; Erie, Pa.; and Burns Harbor, Ind. Work is expected to be completed by July 2018. This contract was procured via a limited competition between Huntington Ingalls and Bath Iron Works. In addition, Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $679,600,348 fixed-price-incentive contract for DDG 115 construction. This contract includes options for DDG 116 construction valued at $665,016,688. Significant amounts of work will be performed in Bath/Brunswick, Maine; Cincinnati, Ohio; Walpole, Mass.; Brunswick, Ga.; Coatesville, Pa.; Falls Church, Va.; Indianapolis, Ind.; York, Pa.; South Portland, Maine; Charlottesville, Va.; Tulsa, Okla.; Anaheim, Calif.; and Portland, Maine. Work is expected to be completed by August 2017. This contract was procured via a limited competition between Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/26/11)

Nonprofit proposes hatchery, aquarium

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – The Destin-based nonprofit AquaGreen wants to build a marine life center on Okaloosa Island. The pitch for the proposed fish hatchery and aquarium was made to Okaloosa County commissioners at a board meeting. The county owns a 35-acre parcel on the north side of U.S. Highway 98 where the group wants the aquarium. AquaGreen’s facility would include a 30,000-square-foot interactive aquarium and 50,000 square feet of hatcheries, nurseries, classrooms and labs. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 09/20/11)

Bids sought for maritime academy

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Jackson County is inviting companies to bid on a $20 million maritime training facility to be built on Ingalls Shipbuilding property. On Monday, the Board of Supervisors and Port Authority's Board of Commissioners passed a joint resolution to advertise bid on the shipbuilding academy. The project, funded through a Hurricane Katrina community development block grant, will help Ingalls expand its two- to four-year apprentice program to about 1,000 students, leaders have said. Construction on the 76,000-square-foot facility is expected to take 18 months. (Source: MississippiPress, 09/20/11)

Navy to christen JHSV Spearhead

MOBILE, Ala. - The Navy will christen the Joint High Speed Vessel "Spearhead" Saturday at 10 a.m. CDT in Mobile. The 338 foot-long aluminum catamaran is being built by Austal USA. Spearhead and the nine other JHSVs under contract allow intra-theater transportation of troops, military vehicles, supplies and equipment. They can transport 600 short tons 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots and can operate in shallow-draft ports and waterways. JHSVs aviation flight decks can support day and night air vehicle launch and recovery operations. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama will deliver the ceremony's principal address. (Source: DoD, 09/14/11)

Supervisors OK Ingalls tax break

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls was granted 10-year exemptions Monday by Jackson County supervisors on a portion of its ad valorem taxes. The board unanimously granted two separate exemptions on some newer equipment and property at the shipyard, but the shipyard would still have to pay about 18 mills of the county’s 51.3 mills tax rate. Some tax funds must still be collected for school funds, roads and other expenses, supervisors said. (Source: Sun Herald, 09/12/11)

Ingalls gets cutter contract

Huntington Ingalls photo

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Ingalls Shipbuilding has received a $482.8 million fixed-price-incentive-firm contract from the U.S. Coast Guard for the construction of a fifth National Security Cutter. Construction of the yet-to-be-named WMSL 754 will be done in Pascagoula facility. Ingalls has delivered the first three NSCs. Stratton (WMSL 752), the third of eight planned ships, was delivered to the Coast Guard on Sept. 2. Bertholf (WMSL 750) and Waesche (WMSL 751) have been commissioned. The start-of-fabrication milestone took place for the fourth cutter, Hamilton (WMSL 753), on Aug. 29. (Source: Huntington Ingalls via Globe Newswire, 09/09/11)

Austal rolls out JHSV

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA rolled its first Joint High-Speed Vessel out of the shed and onto a dry dock floating in the Mobile River. The high-speed transport was floated down to BAE Systems, where it is scheduled to be put into the water Sunday. The ship, slated to be delivered to the Navy early next year, is the first in a $1.6 billion, 10-ship contract awarded to Austal in 2008. The JHSV can carry soldiers and cargo at an average speed of 40 mph. Vehicles will be able to roll off even in shallow-water ports. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 09/09/11)

Austal ship to visit Pensacola

The USS Independence (LCS 2), the littoral combat ship built at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., will visit Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., on Sept. 12 to conduct shipboard mission module testing over the next several weeks. Base officials say LCS 2, new generation ship with an aluminum trimaran design, will not be open for tours to the public and fishermen and boaters are reminded that a 5000-foot cordon around the ship will be enforced. (Source: Gosport, 09/09/11)

USS New York to be in NYC for 9/11

The amphibious transport dock ship USS New York will travel to New York City to participate in events honoring the victims and responders from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The announcement was made by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. (Source: DoD, 09/06/11) Gulf Coast note: The ship's bow as made with steel recovered from the World Trade Center. It was built by Northrop Grumman shipyard in Avondale, La. The yard is now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries.

Austal impresses Roughead

MOBILE, Ala. - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead visited Austal USA's Mobile shipyard and called it "a model for others to follow." He said he's excited about the commitment and innovation that's gone into the shipyard, which he considers on the leading edge of shipbuilding. Austal, Mobile's largest industrial employer with more than 2,100 workers, is building littoral combat ships and high-speed transports and expects to double the size of its workforce in the next few years. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 08/31/11)

Ingalls starts work on new cutter

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Ingalls Shipbuilding celebrated the "start of fabrication" of the U.S. Coast Guard's fourth National Security Cutter, Hamilton (WMSL 753). The milestone signifies that 100 tons of steel have been cut and fabricated utilizing a robotic plasma arc cutting machine at Ingalls' steel fabrication complex. Ingalls received the $480 million contract to build Hamilton in November 2010. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard in the fall of 2014. Ingalls has delivered the first two NSCs, Bertholf (WMSL 750) and Waesche (WMSL 751). Stratton (WMSL 752), the third of eight planned ships in the Legend class of cutters, will be delivered to the Coast Guard Friday. (Source: Huntington Ingalls via GlobeNewswire, 08/30/11)

$112.5M in Gulf research announced

The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative will use $112.5 million to fund eight research teams over the next three years to study the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. The teams will investigate what happened to the oil in the environment, the impacts of the spill and the development of new tools and technologies for responding to future spills and improving mitigation and restoration. Universities with operations along the Gulf Coast participating in one or more teams include the University of Southern Mississippi, University of West Florida, Louisiana State University, Tulane University, Florida State University and the University of Mississippi. Also participating will be Dauphin Island Sea Lab of Mobile, Ala., and the Naval Research Laboratory, which has a detachment at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The GRI Research Board is an independent body established by BP to administer the company's 10-year, $500 million commitment to research. Additional grant competitions will be announced soon. (Source: PRNewswire, 08/30/11)

Mk 38 Tactical Laser System concept tested

BAE Systems, Boeing, and the Navy recently conducted a successful test of the Mk 38 MOD 2 Tactical Laser System concept at Eglin Air Force Base in Eglin, Fla. The concept is a proposed high energy laser addition to the Mk 38 naval gun systems currently deployed on most surface combatants. The field testing demonstrated a capability to identify and classify targets and provide rapid hand-off to the Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated Experiments system for interdiction. The test system fired against air and surface maritime targets. Additionally, swarm tests were conducted to simulate an attack by a large number of fast, maneuvering small boats, intermingled with neutral boat traffic. These tests demonstrated a consistent ability to detect, track, classify and engage threat vessels at tactically relevant ranges. (Source: BAE Systems via Business Wire, 08/30/11)

BP and Coast Guard: Well not leaking

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Prompted by recent press reports of oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard's Gulf Coast Incident Management Team conducted a visual inspection of the well. In a joint statement Friday, they said there is no release of oil occurring at the well. According to a separate Coast Guard news release, two remotely-operated vehicles were deployed from the Grant Candies at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to survey the Macondo 252 wellhead and found no evidence of leaking oil. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 08/26/11)

Oil found floating near spill

MOBILE, Ala. - Oil has been found floating on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near the site of last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Press-Register found hundreds of small patches of oily sheen within a mile of the wellhead. Experts say it could be coming from a natural seep, oil trapped in the wreckage of the drilling rig, oil deposited on the bottom during the spill that's making it way to the surface or from the seafloor surrounding the well pipe, which was sealed last year. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/24/11)

UNO gets money for high-tech tools

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The University of New Orleans received $306,216 from the Department of Defense to buy equipment that features a welding technique that has been used on the space shuttle's external tank. The equipment will be used on ships. Known as friction stir welding, the technique has been used at UNO's National Center for Advanced Manufacturing since 2002. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 08/22/11)

Alabama waters looking healthier

MOBILE, Ala. - A year ago, at the height of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, much of the seafloor off the Alabama coast was dead. Scientists blamed a plume of low oxygen water. But things look much different now. Several times this spring and as recently as last week, the Press-Register returned to three natural gas platforms visited during the summer of 2010. Instead of swimming through a dead sea and finding oxygen levels far below the threshold required to support marine animals, there was abundant life. A portable oxygen meter found it rich in oxygen from the surface to the seafloor. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/21/11)

BAE shipyard wins contract

MOBILE, Ala. - BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards announced its first contract to build a new ship from scratch at its Mobile River facility. Weeks Marine Inc. hired BAE to build a 356-foot-long, 79-foot-wide dredging vessel for use in the U.S., according to BAE. The twin screw trailing suction hopper will have a capacity of 8,500 cubic yards. The contract is worth $85 million, according to BAE. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/18/11)

Bollinger sued over cutters

The Justice Department has accused Bollinger Shipyards Inc. of Lockport, La., of falsifying data that led the Coast Guard to contract with the firm to lengthen eight deepwater cutters, all of which turned out "unseaworthy and unusable." The allegations are made in a civil suit filed in July in U.S. District Court Washington, D.C., and made public Wednesday. The suit claims Bollinger exaggerated the structural hull strength of the eight boats it had contracted to lengthen from 110 feet to 123 feet. The suit seeks unspecified damages. In a statement Bollinger said the company has a spotless record for honest and fair dealings. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 08/18/11)

Union contests Austal vote

MOBILE, Ala. - Local 441 of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board after a failed attempt earlier this month to organize Austal USA. The complaint claims, among other things, that Austal coerced and intimidated employees. Austal USA President Joe Rella said company representatives acted in a lawful and professional manner throughout the election process. Workers voted 613-367 against unionizing. Austal is Mobile's largest industrial employer, with more than 2,100 workers. It's building littoral combat ships and high-speed transport vessels for the Navy. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/17/11)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $7M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $6,986,478 option exercise modification to previously awarded contract for management and engineering services to maintain and modify as necessary the design of DDG 51-class combat system compartments and topside arrangements, in support of the program executive officer Integrated Warfare Systems. The required services for DDG 51-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. Other sites where work will be done are Moorestown, N.J. (37 percent); Bath, Maine (25 percent); San Diego, Calif. (6 percent); Washington, D.C. (5 percent); Norfolk, Va. (3 percent); Port Hueneme, Calif. (1 percent); and Syracuse, N.Y. (1 percent). Work is expected to be completed by September 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/17/11)

BAE gets grant for Mobile yard

MOBILE, Ala. - BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a steel profile processing system. The money is through a U.S. Maritime Administration grant program designed to assist small shipyards modernize facilities to increase productivity of shipbuilders. BAE will use the money for an automated system for cutting and welding stiffening profiles to steel plates on ships. BAE has about 800 workers at its Mobile yard. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/16/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $11M

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $10,999,993 modification to previously awarded contract for research, development, test, and technical services for the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer. Technical services include technology development, analytical modeling, qualification of materials, potential design/process improvements, and design excursions. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss. (80 percent), and Gulfport, Miss. (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/15/11)

Stratton returns from sea trials

Huntington Ingalls photo

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries' third U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter, Stratton (WMSL 752), returned from sea after successfully completing acceptance sea trials. The ship spent two days in the Gulf of Mexico testing all systems for the Board of Inspection and Survey. INSURV evaluated Ingalls' test and trials team as it conducted extensive testing of the propulsion, electrical, damage control, anchor handling, small boat and combat systems. The 418-foot NSC is the flagship of the Coast Guard's cutter fleet, designed to replace the 378‐foot Hamilton-class High-Endurance Cutters, which entered service during the 1960s. Stratton is scheduled for delivery to the Coast Guard on Sept. 2. It's the third of eight planned ships in this new class of multi-mission cutters. Bertholf and Waesche have been commissioned and in service. The construction contract for a fourth cutter, Hamilton, was awarded in November 2010 and construction will begin on Aug. 29. (Source: Huntington Ingalls, 08/12/11)

VT Halter Marine starts new ship

Construction on a $144 million shipping vessel for Honolulu-based Pasha Hawaii began Tuesday with the cutting of the first piece of steel at VT Halter Marine’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. The ship is a combination container and roll-on/roll-off car-truck carrier called the Marjorie C, which will provide weekly service between the West Coast and Hawaii. This is the second vessel to join the fleet built by VT Halter Marine for Pasha Hawaii. The company also has an option agreement for the construction of a third vessel with a base price of $137 million. The ship is scheduled for service by the fall of 2013. (Source: Pacific Business News, 08/09/11)

Ocean in Action Workshop set

BILOXI, Miss. - The Marine Technology Society and Mississippi Enterprise for Technology are hosting the Oceans in Action Workshop Aug. 22 and 23 at the Imperial Palace Casino in Biloxi. The workshop focuses on how marine technology is applied to real-world issues. As part of the event, the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology will host business matchmaking sessions. Representatives have agreed to meet with companies to help determine if their products and/or services can help support projects currently underway or anticipated within local government agencies and prime contractor organizations. The deadline for advanced meeting scheduling is Aug. 15. After that, meetings can be scheduled at the workshop if appointments are still available. Paid registration to the Oceans in Action workshop via the MTS is required before a meeting request can be submitted. For information on the workshop; for information on matchmaking. (Source: MSET, 08/10/11)

Austal workers reject union

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA workers have rejected union representation for a third time, voting 613-367 against representation by the Sheet Metal Workers International Association union, according to company officials. The election was held Thursday and Friday. Of 1,169 eligible workers, about 90 percent voted. The union lost two previous votes, but each time the National Labor Relations Board ordered a new election because of unfair labor practices. Austal USA, along the Mobile River, has more than 2,000 workers and build littoral combat ships for the Navy. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/05/11)

Contract: Bath Iron Works, $110.8M

The Navy awarded Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, a $110.8 million modification to a previously awarded contract for long-lead construction for DDG 1001, procurement of long-lead-time material for DDG 1002 and engineering, production and support services. The original contract for the Zumwalt class was awarded in February 2008. Work encompassed by this modification is expected to be completed by October 2011. (Sources: DoD, 08/04/11, General Dynamics via PRNewswire, 08/05/11) Gulf Coast note: Ingalls Composite Center of Excellence in Gulfport, Miss., is building the composite deckhouses and hangars for the DDG 1000 ships.

Austal marks milestone

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal celebrated a milestone Tuesday, cutting the first piece of aluminum on LCS 6, the first ship in a projected 10-vessel, $3.5 billion deal. The latest ship, which will be christened the Jackson, is the first that Austal USA will build as a prime contractor for the U.S. Navy. Austal built both a previous LCS and one under construction as a subcontractor for General Dynamics Corp. Austal President Joe Rella said the company has overcome a design flaw discovered earlier this year on LCS 2 that allowed corrosion where two different metals joined. He said the fix is designed into the Jackson. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/03/11)

Sub set for Gulfport commissioning

GULFPORT, Miss. - The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Mississippi will be commissioned in the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor in May 2012, according to Mayor George Schloegel. He made the announcement Tuesday at a meeting of the Gulfport Business Club. The Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Groton, Conn., is the prime contractor for the 377-foot-long USS Mississippi (SSN-782). (Source: Sun Herald, 08/02/11) Note: Seemann Composites of Gulfport provided key composite parts for the nuclear-powered Virginia-class sub. Background story

Dead zone warning

Scientists at a meeting in New Orleans Tuesday warned the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico will create more problems unless fewer fertilizers are dumped into the Mississippi River. Farm runoff is the leading cause of the high nitrogen and phosphorous levels in the Gulf, and the increase in corn growing to meet new ethanol standards in gasoline will keep nitrogen levels high, scientists said. Researchers who mapped the dead zone, where oxygen levels are too low to support most marine life, found the size this year above average, 6,765 square miles, nowhere near the 9,400 square miles some had predicted due to spring flooding in the Midwest. Scientists have been measuring the dead zone since 1985, and this year's cruise found the dead zone was the 11th-largest. But substantial portions of the affected Gulf weren't just low in oxygen, but virtually devoid of it from the surface to the seafloor. (Sources: New York Times, AP via Sun Herald, 08/01/11, Science News, AP via The Republic, 08/02/11)

Lotz named GCRL interim director

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Jeffrey Lotz, chairman of the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Coastal Sciences, has been named interim director of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs. He succeeds Bill Hawkins, who retired as lab director in June. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, Sun Herald, 08/01/11)

Scientist: Oil-eating bacteria feasted

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Oil-eating bacteria in the Gulf of Mexico devoured crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead last year, researcher Terry Hazen said during the University of Southern Mississippi’s distinguished lecture series Wednesday. Hazen, co-director of the Virtual Institute for Microbial Stress and Survival at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a team of 50 scientists studied the spill from May 25 to Oct. 20, 2010 and found that that 45 percent of the light crude evaporated in a week, then bacteria acted like "oil-seeking missiles" and feasted on the oil. The bacteria had adapted to eating oil over millions of years from seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. "This does not give the oil companies a free pass," Hazen said. "Do not think that. It was devastating. There was a lot of oil out there for 84 days. Plankton and fish, all sorts of things, were swimming through that stuff. It is going to take long-term studies to figure out exactly how that affected them." (Source: Mississippi Press, 07/28/11)

Contract: General Dynamics, $10M

General Dynamics - Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $10,000,000 cost-plus-award-fee modification to existing previously awarded basic ordering agreement to provide engineering and management services for advance planning and design in support of the post shakedown availability for USS Independence (LCS 2). Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (72 percent); Pittsfield, Mass (20 percent); and Mobile, Ala. (8 percent). Work is expected to be completed by February 2013. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Bath, Maine, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 07/22/11)

BAE bringing shipbuilding back to yard

MOBILE, Ala. - New ship construction will be returning to the site of the former Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co., officials with BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards said Friday. The company said it will partner with Netherlands-based IHC Merwede to build offshore oil vessels at BAE's yards in Jacksonville, Fla., and Mobile. BAE has about 800 workers at its Mobile yard now, but could grow by 400 in the coming years because of the agreement. ADDSCO, on Pinto Island, opened in 1916 and closed in 1988. It was bought by Atlantic Marine in 1992, and sold to BAE last year. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 07/15/11)

LCS to be named Little Rock

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today that the next Freedom-class littoral combat ship will be named the USS Little Rock (LCS 9). Little Rock is the second ship to bear the name of the capital city in Arkansas. The first, a Cleveland-class light cruiser that served after World War II, was converted to a Galveston-class guided missile cruiser and is now a museum in Buffalo, N.Y. The new monohull Little Rock will be 378 feet long and built in Marinette, Wis., by a Lockheed Martin team. The other class of LCS, the Independence class, is an aluminum trimaran built in Mobile, Ala., by Austal USA. (Source: DoD, 07/15/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $98.6M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $98,614,104 cost-plus-fixed-fee not-to-exceed modification to previously awarded contract for advance procurement of long-lead-time materials in support of LPD 27, the 11th ship of the LPD class. Work will be done in Pascagoula and is expected to be completed by January 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 07/13/11)

Shipyard savings claim questioned

Northrop Grumman says it will save the government some $600 million by divesting its shipbuilding operation and closing the Avondale, La., shipyard. But the Pentagon's audit agency concluded it can't verify the claim. More than 90 percent of the claimed shutdown costs were unsupported because the contractor could not provide evidence of its underlying assumptions, the Navy said. (Source: Bloomberg, 07/12/11)

Oversight of vessels, modules combined

MOBILE, Ala. - The Navy put a rear admiral in charge of a new office overseeing the entire littoral combat ship program, a change from the previous division between building the vessels and the mission modules. The vessel program is ahead of the modules, packages of weapons and equipment designed for hunting mines, fighting submarines and attacking surface enemies. Navy officials said the decision to merge oversight of the programs had nothing to do with their respective performances, but simply to put both programs under the same leadership. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 07/11/11)

Mobile ship makes movie debut

The Austal USA-built USS Independence is one of the characters in the movie “Cars 2.” Officials from Austal and the Navy, which owns the Independence, said they didn't approach Pixar or Disney about using the ship, "but to have one of the most creative movie studios in Hollywood feature a Mobile-built product confirms what we locals have known for years, our ship is awesome," said Joe Rella, president of Austal USA. In the movie, the unnamed ship character is seen guarding the villain's offshore oil platform lair and then chasing after one of the movie's heroes, spy car Finn McMissile. The ship pops up again at the end of the movie. Austal is building its second littoral combat ship as a subcontractor for General Dynamics, then will be the prime contractor for 10 more. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 07/05/11)

Stratton finishes builder's sea trials

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Ingalls Shipbuilding's third Legend-class national security cutter, Stratton (WMSL 752), successfully completed builder's sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico this week, the company announced. The 418-foot cutter spent three days at sea, while Ingalls' test and trials team conducted extensive testing of the propulsion, electrical, damage control, anchor handling, small boat and combat systems. (Source: Mississippi Press, 07/01/11)

Contract: Austal USA, $312.9M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $312,939,336 modification to previously awarded contract for the exercise of construction options for ships six and seven of the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Program. The JHSV will provide high speed, shallow draft transportation capability to support the intra-theater maneuver of personnel, supplies and equipment for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Army. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (48 percent); Pittsfield, Mass. (9 percent); Franklin, Mass. (3 percent); Philadelphia, Pa. (3 percent); Henderson, Wash. (3 percent); Atlanta, Ga. (2 percent); Chicago, Ill. (2 percent); Gulfport, Miss. (2 percent); Slidell, La. (1 percent); Iron Mountain, Mich. (1 percent); Houston, Texas (1 percent); Dallas, Texas (1 percent); Chesapeake, Va. (1 percent); Milwaukee, Wis. (1 percent); and Brookfield, Wis. (1 percent), with other efforts performed at various sites throughout the United States (5 percent) and outside the United States (16 percent). Work is expected to be completed by June 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/30/11)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $13M

Lockheed Martin Corp., MS2, Integrated Defense Technologies, Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a $13,070,102 modification under previously awarded contract for MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) ordnance alteration kits, production support material, interim support parts, and equipment in support of DDG 51-class new construction, and Aegis modernization programs. The MK 41 VLS provides a missile launching system for CG 47- and DDG 51-class surface combatants of the U.S. Navy, surface combatants of allied navies, and Aegis Ashore requirements for Missile Defense Agency's Ground Ballistic Missile Defense Program. It is the primary missile launching system aboard Navy combatants used to store, safe, inventory and launch missiles of various types. Work will be performed in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (18.8 percent,) as well as Baltimore, Md. (29.5 percent); Moorestown, N.J. (11.6 percent); Lewisburg, Tenn. (10.1 percent); Johnstown, Pa. (9.2 percent); Owego, N.Y. (9.0 percent); Simpsonville, S.C. (5.5 percent); Clearwater, Fla. (3.2 percent); and Sterling Heights, Mich. (3.1 percent). Work is expected to be completed by June 2013. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/29/11)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $7.7M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $7,680,000 modification to previously awarded contract for management and engineering services to maintain and modify as necessary the design of DDG 51-class combat system compartments and topside arrangements, in support of program executive officer Integrated Warfare Systems. Twenty-two percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula, Miss. Other work will be done in Moorestown, N.J. (37 percent); Bath, Maine (25 percent); San Diego, Calif. (6 percent); Washington, D.C. (5 percent); Norfolk, Va. (3 percent); Port Hueneme, Calif. (1 percent); and Syracuse, N.Y. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/24/11)

Exports, STEM highlight Mississippi ranking

Among the states, Mississippi ranks No. 5 for export growth, according to the Enterprising States 2011 study just released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mississippi is also ranked 10th in cost of living, 11th in per capita income growth and higher education efficiency, and 12th in productivity growth and business birth rate. Mississippi is also ranked 20th in science, technology, engineering and math job growth as well as 20th in entrepreneurial activity. (Source: Tcp, 06/23/11) Study: U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Exports, STEM highlight Mississippi ranking

Among the states, Mississippi ranks No. 5 for export growth, according to the Enterprising States 2011 study just released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mississippi is also ranked 10th in cost of living, 11th in per capita income growth and higher education efficiency, and 12th in productivity growth and business birth rate. Mississippi is also ranked 20th in science, technology, engineering and math job growth as well as 20th in entrepreneurial activity. (Source: Tcp, 06/23/11) Study: U.S. Chamber of Commerce

VT Halter eyes expansion

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - VT Halter Marine plans to diversify and expand its Pascagoula shipyard with the addition of a floating dry dock that will let it begin repairing semi-submersible drilling rigs and new Panamax-sized ships. The proposed dock is 715 feet by 389 feet and is L-shaped. It would be placed on the west side of Bayou Casotte, with the existing VT Halter facilities to the north and Signal International to the south. The board of directors still has to give final approval. (Source: Mississippi Press, 06/23/11)

Corrosion found on new LCS

A littoral combat ship built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., will have to be dry-docked to remove water jets that have suffered corrosion, according to a report by Bloomberg. The Navy has discovered "aggressive" corrosion in the propulsion areas of the aluminum-hulled USS Independence. In February, the Navy found another ship in the series, this one built in Wisconsin by a team led by Lockheed Martin, had developed a crack through the hull. (Source: Bloomberg, Mobile Press-Register, 06/17/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a fixed-price-incentive contract for DDG 113 construction, engineering change proposals, and design budgeting requirements. As this award represents the first DDG 51 class ship to be awarded for the continuation of the DDG 51 class program, and there is a competitive solicitation for additional DDG 51 class ships, the contract award amount and percentages of work to be performed in each location for DDG 113 are considered source selection information and will not be made public at this time. Significant work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Walpole, Mass.; Burns Harbor, Ind.; York, Pa.; and Charlottesville, Va. Work is expected to be completed by July 2017. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/15/11)

JHSV module damaged

MOBILE, Ala. - A 50-ton block of the second Joint High Speed Vessel being built at Austal USA broke loose over the weekend, fell three feet and tipped over, the shipbuilder confirmed to Navy Times. The block is one of 44 units that make up a JHSV. The extent of the damage to the module and the cost of repairs are still being assessed. The shipyard is building JHSVs and littoral combat ships. (Source: Navy Times, 06/14/11)

Command at SSC gets new leader

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - A change of command ceremony took place at the Naval Oceanography Operations Command at Stennis Space Center last week. Capt. Van Gurley assumed command, relieving Capt. David J. Walsh, who has commanded since November 2009. Gurley has served two previous tours in Mississippi, and was the first commanding officer of the Naval Oceanography Anti-Submarine Warfare Center from 2006 to 2008. The NOOC, an Echelon IV command of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command at SSC, is comprised of over 1,000 military and civilian personnel located at seven globally distributed subordinate commands supporting every warfare area in the fleet. Rear Adm. Jonathan W. White, Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, presided over the ceremony. (Source: NNS, 06/14/11)

Oil impact causes rift

MOBILE, Ala. - Questions about the severity of the Gulf oil spill's environmental impact have divided officials along state lines and are now creating discord even within coastal Alabama. Data collected so far show that the spill's effects have been "minor" east of Louisiana, according to George Crozier, executive director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. But a letter sent by environmental groups to the Obama administration warned of a "growing health crisis." Casi Callaway, whose Mobile Baykeeper group signed on to the letter, said that while it would be irresponsible to "cry wolf," it would also be irresponsible to conclude there's no problem. An estimated 206 million gallons of crude gushed into the Gulf last spring and summer after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing 11 workers. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 06/12/11)

Data portal earns Gulf Guardian award

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System - Regional Association of College Station Texas will receive a Gulf Guardian Award for 2011 in the partnership category. The awards ceremony will be in conjunction with the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Meeting Aug. 3 in New Orleans. The GCOOS Data Portal Project spans the entire Gulf coast and engages people from academia, state and local government and the private sector. The Gulf of Mexico Program initiated the Gulf Guardian awards in 2000 to recognize businesses, community groups, individuals, and agencies that are taking positive steps to keep the Gulf healthy, beautiful and productive. (Source: EPA, 06/09/11)

Taber to work on LCS, JHSV components

MOBILE, Ala. - Taber Extrusions will build components for a littoral combat ship and joint high-speed vessel being built by Austal USA of Mobile, Ala. The work will be done at Taber's two manufacturing facilities, one in Gulfport, Miss., and the other in Russellville, Ark. Austal will use Taber extrusions for decking, superstructure and bulkheads. The work is for the LCS Jackson and JHSV Fortitude. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/08/11)

Union gets another shot at Austal

MOBILE, Ala. - A union is getting a third shot to enlist workers at Austal USA's Mobile River shipyard, and an election could come as soon as late July. That's according to a lawyer representing Local 441 of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association. That group has been trying to represent Austal's workforce since 2002. Two previous elections were vacated by federal authorities who found that the company engaged in unfair labor practices with respect to the organizing effort. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/05/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $25.3M

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a contract modification in an amount not-to-exceed $25,300,000 to previously awarded contract for long lead time material for DDG 113. Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio (60 percent), and Pascagoula (40 percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/02/11)

Was the dispersant worth it?

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The chemical sprayed in the Gulf to break up the BP oil spill may not have been effective and could be damaging the ecosystem, according to preliminary findings by University of West Florida researchers. When mixed with oil, Corexit is toxic to phytoplankton and bacteria, crucial to the Gulf of Mexico's food chain, said Wade Jeffrey, a UWF biologist with the Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation. BP dumped nearly 2 million gallons of the dispersant in the Gulf, which saw more than 172 million gallons of oil leak into the water in the wake of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 05/31/11)

Destroyer arrives in Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. - The William P. Lawrence arrived in Mobile on Friday, where her crew will remain until the formal commissioning ceremony on June 4. After the commissioning, the ship will head for its home port in San Diego. The ship is 510 feet long and carries a crew of about 300. The 60th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and is the 28th destroyer and 90th surface combatant from the Pascagoula shipyard. The ship is named for Vice Adm. William Porter Lawrence, who received his Naval Aviator Wings at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 05/28/11)

Contract: General Dynamics, $744.1M

General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $744,129,956 modification to previously awarded contract for the procurement of the detail design and construction of two mobile landing platform ships. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (62 percent); Mobile, Ala. (7 percent); Pittsburgh, Pa. (6 percent); Beloit, Wis. (5 percent); Crozet, Va. (2 percent); Chesapeake, Va. (2 percent); and Belle Chasse, La. (1 percent), with other efforts performed at various sites throughout the United States (8 percent) and outside the United States (7 percent). Work is expected to be complete by February 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/27/11)

VT Halter wins contract

VT Halter Marine won a contract to build a 112-foot offshore articulated tug barge for New York-based Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. The tug will be similar to others built for Bouchard in previous years by Halter Marine. Construction is set to begin next month at the Moss Point Marine facility in Escatawpa, with delivery September 2012. The company has 1,800 workers at yards in Moss Point, Pascagoula and Escatawpa. (Source: Mississippi Press, 05/26/11)

Navy rejects ship

A new ship designed to carry a billion-dollar ballistic missile tracking radar failed its acceptance trials earlier this month and will need repairs before it can enter service. The Howard O. Lorenzen, built by VT Halter Marine at Moss Point, Miss., is a 534-foot-long ship intended to carry the Cobra Judy Replacement radar, a key sensor used in treaty monitoring and verification for ballistic missile issues. Repair will be done at Kiewit Offshore Services in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Source: Defense News, 05/26/11)

Avondale to be subject of study

NEW ORLEANS, La. - As the Avondale shipyard moves toward closing in 2013, researchers from several universities are teaming to study the 73-year-old facility's economic and cultural contributions to the region. In the coming months, faculty from Loyola, Tulane, Southern University New Orleans and the University of New Orleans plan to survey current and former shipyard employees on a range of topics. Part of the research will focus on examining potential mental and physical health impacts the winding down of the facility may be having on its shrinking workforce. Northrop Grumman, which owned the yard until it was spun off as part of Huntington-Ingalls, decided last year to close the yard. (Source: Times-Picayune, 05/22/11)

Austal growth and the Big Six

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA's transformation from a commercial ferry builder to a player for Department of Defense contracts has been impressive. But it isn't yet in the same league as the Big Six. Part of the reason it still needs to prove the value of the ships it's building, and get into position to build even more complex vessels. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 05/22/11)

DDG 110 leaves Pascagoula shipyard

The Navy's latest Aegis guided missile destroyer, the William P. Lawrence, left Ingalls Shipbuilding Thursday and headed out for several days in the Gulf of Mexico. It will later arrive in Mobile, Ala., for its June 4 commissioning before heading to its home port in San Diego. The ship is 510 feet and weighs 9,500 tons and can carry a crew of 300. Four gas-turbine propulsion plans will power the ship to speed above 30 knots. Christened in April 2010, DDG 110 honors the late Vice Adm. William P. Lawrence, who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. The ship is the 28th destroyer built at the Pascagoula shipyard. (Sources: Sun Herald, 05/19/11, Mississippi Press, 05/20/11)

Oysters likely to be wiped out

BILOXI, Miss. - As record amounts of freshwater head down the Mississippi River toward the Mississippi Sound, the oyster industry can expect to face extreme losses, an official with the Department of Marine Resources said Tuesday. Oysters will be hit hard because they're a stationary species; shrimp, finfish and crabs, which are mobile, are expected to be able to move ahead of freshwater entering the salty waters of the Sound, and the effect on the adults should be minimal, said Scott Gordon, director of the Shellfish Bureau, Office of Marine Fisheries. (Source: Sun Herald, 05/17/11)

Some fish healthy, some not

Alabama researchers fishing within 15 miles of Dauphin Island last week caught more than 300 red snapper and found no sign of infection. The Alabama scientists also caught vermillion snapper, lane snapper, triggerfish and ruby red lips, none of which showed any visible abnormalities. A team from Louisiana State University working off Alabama earlier in the week reported catching some fish in the same area that showed signs of disease, either lesions on the skin or internal damage to the liver. Concern over marine life increased in the wake of last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 05/15/11)

Ingalls to research welding improvements

Huntington Ingalls Industries' Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard won a $2.7 million grant for a project to improve shipyard welding. Ingalls was one of six shipyards sharing about $14.6 million in project grants from the National Shipbuilding Research Program. Funding is from the U.S. Navy and industry groups. The idea is to develop a process to eliminate over-welding to reduce distortion. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 05/09/11)

Another concern for Gulf?

The Army Corps of Engineers plans to open the Bonnet Carre Spillway Monday, sending fresh water through Lake Pontchartrain, through a strait and into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s rarely done because of the effect it has on the marine life and the Mississippi Sound. But the Mississippi River is rising, and it is an attempt to divert some of the water before it gets to New Orleans. One concern, in addition to marine life, is it could impact the oil spill research. (Source: Sun Herald, 05/06/11)

Army transfers JHSVs to Navy

The Army has transferred to the Navy all five of its Joint High Speed Vessels. The Memorandum of Agreement was signed May 2, and clarifies relationships, identifies roles and responsibilities and provides an implementation plan. Initially the JHSV program was envisioned to have five of the first 10 JHSVs assigned to the Army, with the Navy getting the rest. But at the Army/Navy Warfighter Talks in December 2010, both services agreed to assign all of the vessels to the Navy. The Military Sealift Command will crew the JHSVs with civilian mariners or contract mariners. Joint High Speed Vessels will be used for fast transport of troops, military vehicles and equipment. (Source: NNS, 05/05/11) Gulf Coast note: The catamaran ships are built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.

BAE to showcase ship repair

HOUSTON - BAE Systems will showcase its ship repair capabilities at the 2011 Offshore Technology Conference May 2-5 in Houston. With more than 5,000 workers, BAE Systems does drydock and pierside repairs and in maintenance, overhaul and conversion of commercial and military vessels. It has six full-service shipyards, including the 423-acre site in Mobile, Ala., and a satellite ship repair facility in Moss Point, Miss. (Source: Business Wire, 04/28/11)

Huntington Ingalls names shipyard chiefs

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., owner of Pascagoula’s 10,800-employee shipyard, said its board of directors approved Irwin F. Edenzon and Matthew J. Mulherin as corporate vice presidents and presidents of the company’s two major shipyards. Edenzon was named president of Ingalls Shipbuilding and Mulherin became president of Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. HII, previously the shipbuilding division of Northrop Grumman Corp., began operating on March 31 as an independent, publicly traded company. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/26/11)

GCRL's Hawkins to retire

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Long-time Gulf Coast Research Laboratory director Bill Hawkins plans to retire at the end of June. Hawkins has served as director since early 2008 and was executive director for six years before that. Hawkins, 64, is the seventh GCRL director. During his tenure GCRL has grown. The number of buildings on the 224-acre Cedar Point site has nearly doubled, and there are 15 buildings on the 50-acre Halstead campus. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/23/11)

Nebula used in ecosystem project

NASA is moving ahead with its work on the Nebula cloud-computing platform even after the departure of the technology's creator. The agency's John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss., recently used the cloud-computing infrastructure to process data for an environmental project aimed at boosting the health of the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. The center's Applied Science and Technology Project Office has been using the results of NASA Earth Science research to address issues identified by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, a partnership of five states. The group is collaborating to improve both the ecological and economic health of the Gulf region, which sustained a major blow last year with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. (Source: Information Week, 04/19/11)

Last of federal waters opened

NOAA on Tuesday reopened 1,041 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico to commercial and recreational fishing. It's the area immediately surrounding the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, east of Louisiana. This is the twelfth and final reopening in federal waters since July 22, and opens all of the areas in federal waters formerly closed to fishing due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/19/11) April 20 marks the one-year anniversary of the explosion of the well, which killed 11 workers and spewed oil in the Gulf for three months.

BAE to provide LCS guns, coms

BAE Systems will provide the external communications and primary gun systems for 10 littoral combat ships to be built by Austal USA of Mobile, Ala. BAE, which runs a shipyard in Mobile, will build the 57-mm gun systems used to defend against aerial, surface or ground threats. BAE will also be building radio and antenna systems and other types of specialized equipment and hardware for ship communications. The work will be done at BAE facilities in California, Maryland, Kentucky, Minnesota and Sweden. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/15/11) Gulf Coast note: BAE Systems also has operations in Gautier, Miss., and Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Sea grass being examined

MOSS POINT, Miss. - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists on Wednesday began examining sea grasses growing within the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to identify any damage done by vessels deploying protective boom in response to last year's BP oil spill. The experts want their work to be done before the June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/14/11)

Command's deputy leaving

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The deputy director of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command is leaving to take a job with NATO in Italy, the command announced. Edward C. Gough Jr. is taking a post as senior principal scientist at the NATO Undersea Research Center in La Spezia, Italy. Gough, who also is the technical director, joined the command in 2003. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/13/11)

NOAA official: Gulf seafood safe

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – A NOAA Fisheries official told reporters that "not one piece of tainted seafood has entered the market" related to the April 2010 BP oil spill. Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator, lead a tour of the testing labs in Pascagoula to show the media the methods used to ensure Gulf seafood is safe: smell tests and chemical analysis. Schwaab said the unequivocal results are that any traces of oil in more than 40 species of marine life is 100 to 1,000 times below the level of concern, the level being set by a team of scientist from the FDA, NOAA, the EPA and five Gulf states. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/12/11)

Research lab holds first Earth Day

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. – The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory has been a participant in Earth Day celebrations before, but for the first time it will host a daylong event. The local event had been organized through Gulf Islands National Seashore, but they have discontinued offering Earth Day events so the Ocean Springs lab is taking over. Events Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., include a mix of activities from kayaking, pontoon boat rides, trawling trips to lectures by research scientists. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/11/11)

BAE eyes more workers

MOBILE, Ala. - The Mobile facility of BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards will add up to 400 workers to finish building an oil tanker, a company official said. The shipyard on the east bank of Mobile River has 600 workers and another 200 to 250 contractors. The extra workforce is needed to finish a tanker for Mid-Ocean Tanker Co. LLC of South Norwalk, Conn. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/07/11)

More ship contracts being negotiated

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries CEO Mike Petters told Jackson County leaders today that Friday's $1.5 billion ship contract is just the first of five the company is negotiating with the Navy over the next two years. HII separated from Northrop Grumman March 31 and now trades on the New York Stock Exchange. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/05/11)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $1.5B

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. of Pascagoula, Miss., a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, is being awarded a $1,496,200,000 fixed-price-incentive modification to previously awarded contract for the procurement of the detail design and construction of LPD 26, the future USS John P. Murtha, 10th ship in the LPD 17 amphibious transport dock ship class. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, (82 percent); Crozet, Va. (4 percent); Beloit, Wis. (2 percent); and New Orleans, La. (1 percent). Other efforts will be performed at various sites throughout the United States (11 percent). Work is expected to be completed by February 2016. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/01/11)

Austal breaks ground on expansion

MOBILE, Ala. - Austal USA broke ground Thursday on a $116 million project to build three new facilities at its Mobile River complex. The construction should be finished within 15 months. It will allow the shipbuilder to hire another 2,000 workers and complete contracts to build joint high-speed vessels and littoral combat ships. Austal employs about 2,000 people in Mobile. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/31/11)

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $28.7M

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $28,734,634 modification on a not-to-exceed basis to previously awarded contract for the procurement of additional long lead time material in support of the LHA replacement flight 0 amphibious assault ship. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pa. (79.9 percent), and Pascagoula, Miss. (20.1 percent) and is expected to be completed by March 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/30/11)

Contract: Lockheed Martin $12M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $12,019,446 option exercise modification to previously awarded contract for management and engineering services to maintain and modify as necessary the design of DDG 51 class combat system compartments and topside arrangements, in support of the Program Executive Officer Integrated Warfare Systems. Work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J. (37 percent); Bath, Maine (25 percent); Pascagoula, Miss. (22 percent); San Diego, Calif. (6 percent); Washington, D.C. (5 percent); Norfolk, Va. (3 percent); Port Hueneme, Calif. (1 percent); and Syracuse, N.Y. (1 percent). Work is expected to be completed by September 2011. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/30/11)

LCS to be named Jackson, Montgomery

MOBILE, Ala. - Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said today that the next two Freedom-class littoral combat ships to be built in Alabama by Austal USA will be named the USS Jackson and the USS Montgomery. The two ships are part of a dual block buy of LCS class ships announced by Mabus in December 2010. The selection of Jackson, designated LCS 6, honors the state capitol in Mississippi and is the first ship to bear the city's name. The selection of Montgomery, the capitol of Alabama, designated LCS 8, honors Alabama's capital. This is the second ship to bear the city's name. (Source: DoD, 03/25/11)

Dolphin samples leaving Mississippi

GULFPORT, Miss. - Federal officials are taking possession of samples from the 71 dolphins found dead on the Mississippi and Alabama coasts this year. The samples have been stored at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies since mid-January when the animals started dying in high numbers. The concern from the start has been whether it has anything to do with last year’s BP oil spill. (Source: Sun Herald, 03/24/11)

Mabus to visit Austal

MOBILE, Ala. - Navy Secretary Ray Mabus will be at Austal USA's shipyard in Mobile Friday to make an announcement about the littoral combat ship program. The Navy last year awarded Austal and Lockheed Martin 10-vessel contracts to build littoral combat ships, which are designed to fight in coastal waters. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/23/11)

Ship christening set for Saturday

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - An amphibious transport dock ship, Arlington, will be christened Saturday at a ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Pascagoula yard. LPD 24 is named for Arlington County, Va., where an airliner crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. The 684-foot Arlington is one of three Navy ships to honor the heroes and victims of the terrorist attacks. USS New York has been delivered to the Navy and USS Somerset, named for the county in Pennsylvania where another airliner crashed on 9/11, is under construction in Avondale, La. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/22/11)

Contract: Swiftships, $42.1M

Swiftships Shipbuilders LLC, Morgan City, La., is being awarded a $42,181,000 modification to previously awarded contract for the detail design and construction of three 35-meter patrol boats, with an option for three additional 35-meter patrol boats and associated technical services for the Iraqi navy. This contract modification includes options which would bring the value to $83,479,000. Work will be performed in Morgan City, La. (60 percent); Detroit, Mich. (30 percent); Ocean Springs, Miss. (8 percent); and Charlottesville, Va. (2 percent), and is expected to be completed by August 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/21/11)

Much oil never got to surface

MOBILE, Ala. - Much of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 never made it to the surface and instead become suspended in the water column, suggests research presented at a scientific conference in Mobile. One of the emerging themes among scientists was that many sea creatures appeared to be doing better than expected. The 40th annual Benthic Ecology Meeting attracted about 600 scientists from around the nation who study the creatures that live along the seafloor. The meeting was sponsored by the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the University of South Alabama. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/20/11)

Navy gives nod to spinoff

The Navy said it's now in a position to support Northrop Grumman's spin-off of its shipbuilding business. The Navy finds Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. responsible for award of amphibious transport dock ship LPD 26 and guided missile destroyer DDG 113, both contracts currently under negotiation. The Navy's concern with HII's credit rating, driven by its initial debt, has been offset by Northrop Grumman's agreement to relieve HII of first quarter 2011 debts and to provide a starting cash balance of $300 million. (Source: DoD, 03/17/11, Mississippi Press, 03/18/11)