FST finishes Colombia survey

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The Naval Oceanographic Office Fleet Survey Team from Stennis Space Center completed survey operations in the coastal waters of Cartagena, Colombia Feb. 23. The surveys of Cartagena Bay provided an opportunity to assist Colombia in surveying the area including the Magdalena River in Barranquilla. The FST used a 10 meter SeaArk survey boat equipped with multiple types of depth sounding equipment. The data is processed at SSC, then sent to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to update the nautical charts. The host nations receive a copy of the final dataset to update information in their charts. The FST does about 14 surveys a year worldwide. The Naval Oceanographic Office, part of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, collects and analyzes global ocean and littoral data. (Source: NNS, 02/24/12)

Cutters not in budget

The Coast Guard is asking for $683 million to build one Bertholf-class national security cutter, the sixth of a planned eight-ship class built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. But there is no request in the 2013 fiscal year budget for long-lead funding for the seventh or eighth NSCs, and the service's five-year capital investment plan shows no money for new Bertholfs beyond the sixth ship. (Source: Navy Times, 02/24/12)

Contract: Austal USA, $321.7M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $321,725,461 modification to previously awarded contract for the exercise of construction options for Joint High Speed Vessels 8 and 9. 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); 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); Brookfield, Wis. (1 percent); various sites throughout the United States (5 percent); and various sites outside of the United States (19 percent). Work is expected to be completed by April 2016. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/24/12)

Contract: Huntington Ingalls, $70M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $70,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract for advance procurement of long-lead-time materials in support of LPD 27, the 11th ship in the San Antonio (LPD 17) class. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and is expected to be completed by April 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/23/12)

Eastern Shipbuilding expands

PORT ST. JOE, Fla. -- Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City will lease 20 acres at a Port of St. Joe paper mill site to expand its shipbuilding and repair business. The announcement comes less than a month after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the St. Joe Co. and the Port of Port St. Joe Port Authority to develop and market the port. St. Joe’s former paper mill site is some 180 acres. The mill site is also adjacent to a turning basin and navigational channel. St. Joe also owns about 4,700 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the site. ESG is currently in the process of filling 500 new positions needed to meet its current and future contracts for vessel manufacturing. (Source: The Star, Panama City News Herald, 02/21/12)

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $18.7M

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Bethpage, N.Y., is being awarded an $18,704,042 modification to previously awarded contract to provide engineering and production planning services for mission packages that will deploy from and integrate with the Littoral Combat Ship. Mission package capabilities are currently focused on primary mission areas of mine warfare emphasizing mine countermeasures, littoral anti-submarine warfare, and littoral surface warfare operations, including prosecution of small boats. The LCS mission packages are developed and acquired separately from the LCS sea frame. Work will be performed in Bethpage, N.Y. (45 percent); Washington, D.C. (20 percent); Panama City, Fla. (20 percent); Ventura County, Calif. (10 percent); and Dahlgren, Va. (5 percent). Work is expected to be completed by December 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/15/12)

Navy names five new ships

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Wednesday the names of the next five Navy ships. Three Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers will be named the USS John Finn, the USS Ralph Johnson, and the USS Rafael Peralta, named after heroes in three different conflicts. The two littoral combat ships will be named after two American communities, the USS Sioux City and the USS Omaha. (Source: DoD, 02/15/12)

Contract: Signal, $14.5M

Signal Ship Repair, LLC, Mobile, Ala., was awarded a $14,484,630 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for the services in support of engine replacements, engine auxiliary systems modification and repair of dredge wheeler. Work will be performed in Mobile, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2013. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/13/12)

LCS to be named Giffords

The next Independence variant of the littoral combat ship will be named the USS Gabrielle Giffords, the former Congresswoman and long-time supporter of the military and veterans. The announcement was made Friday by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. Giffords survived a shooting while at an outside event in Arizona in which several other people died, including 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. Mabus said the ship's sponsor will be Roxanne Green, the child's mother. The 419-foot long ship, LCS 10, will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. It's the 13th ship to be named for a living person since 1850. (Source: Navy, 02/10/12)

Commissioning site changed

The Navy has decided to move the commissioning of the $2 billion USS Mississippi from Gulfport to Pascagoula, Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., said Tuesday. The commissioning of the submarine was moved after the Navy raised concerns about the channel depth in Gulfport. The commissioning will be June 2, but it's not yet been determined at which terminal in the Pascagoula harbor the ceremonies will take place. The Navy's newest attack submarine was christened in Connecticut in December. (Source: Sun Herald, Mississippi Press, 02/07/12)

Contract: Ingalls, $9M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $9,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract for additional long lead time material in support of the LHA Replacement Flight 0 amphibious assault ship, LHA 7. Work will be done in Pascagoula and is expected to be completed by May 2013. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/06/12)