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)

Contract: Austal, $368.6M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $368,592,125 modification to previously awarded contract to contractually authorize fiscal 2011 Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) construction. Fifty-one percent of the work will be done in Mobile and two percent in New Orleans. Other work will be done in Pittsfield, Mass., Cincinnati, Ohio, Baltimore, Md., Burlington, Vt., and various other locations. Work is expected to be complete by October 2015. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/17/11)

Contract: Austal, $19.7M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $19,665,646 modification to previously awarded contract to exercise options for special studies, analyses, review and class- service efforts for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program. Austal USA will assess engineering and production challenges and evaluate the cost and schedule risks from affordability efforts to reduce LCS acquisition and lifecycle costs. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (83 percent), and Pittsfield, Mass. (17 percent). Work is expected to be completed by March 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/15/11)

NG board OKs spinoff

Northrop Grumman's board of directors has approved the spin-off of a wholly owned subsidiary, Huntington Ingalls Industries. Northrop Grumman stockholders will get one share of the shipping business for every six shares of Northrop Grumman stock they hold on March 30. Shares of the shipbuilding business will trade under the symbol "HII." When Northrop said in July it would explore strategic alternatives for the unit, it also announced plans to close its Avondale facility in Louisiana and consolidation of that yard's work in Pascagoula, Miss. (Source: Mississippi Press, 03/15/11)

Search for answers multi-faceted

GULFPORT, Miss. – The investigation into the infant dolphin deaths along the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama will be multi-faceted in the months to come and watched by dozens of agencies and hundreds of attorneys in litigation with BP. But why the young mammals died and continue to die prematurely, weeks before the birthing season in the northern Gulf, may remain forever a mystery. (Source: Sun Herald, 03/05/11)

Contract: Arete Associates, $26.4M

Arete Associates, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $26,400,000 firm-fixed-price letter contract for the engineering, manufacturing, production and delivery of three Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) AN/DVS-1 low rate initial production Block 1 systems as part of the Mine Warfare Mission Package onboard the littoral combat ship. As a result of this Small Business Innovative Research Phase III award, the COBRA system will have the software that satisfies the performance requirements, the mine counter measure, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, and tactical littoral sensor modes installed. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by March 2013. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, Panama City Beach, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/04/11) Note: Littoral Combat Ships are built in Mobile, Ala.

Cold may have killed dolphins

MOBILE, Ala. - Cold water may have killed dolphins washing ashore in Mississippi and Alabama, according to scientists with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. They point to an apparent correlation between large pulses of chilly water that flowed into Mobile Bay during January and February and the subsequent discovery of dozens of stillborn dolphin calves in area waters. So far, 46 dolphins, mostly calves, have been found. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/03/11)

NGI conference set

The Northern Gulf Institute's annual conference will be held May 17-19 in Mobile, Ala., at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel. The conference will include updates on the activities and direction of the institute, but the emphasis of the conference will be on research presentations and poster presentations by the NGI project teams. NGI, based at Stennis Space Center, Miss., is a NOAA cooperative institute that includes Mississippi State University, Florida State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Louisiana State University and Dauphin Island Sea Lab. (Source: NGI, 03/02/11)