$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)