Ship finishes acceptance trials

AVONDALE, La. -- Amphibious transport dock Anchorage successfully completed its acceptance trials last week, according to the Navy. LPD 23, under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding, is the seventh in the LPD 17 class to be built by the company. Three others LPDs are under construction in Pascagoula, Miss., and Avondale: Arlington (LPD 24), Somerset (LPD 25), and John P. Murtha. (Source: Mississippi Press, 06/25/12)

Contract: Ingalls, $9.3M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $9,298,610 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract for government furnished equipment workshare transportation efforts in support of the Zumwalt class destroyer. The modification will provide GFE workshare transportation efforts for the procurement of material required for the fabrication of cradles, fixtures, and other equipment that are necessary to safely and securely transport class products from Huntington Ingalls in Pascagoula to Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. Nearly all the work will be performed in Pascagoula, with 5 percent in Gulfport, Miss., and is expected to be completed by June 2014. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/26/12)

Changes afoot at Austal

MOBILE, Ala. -- Changes are taking place at shipbuilder Austal USA. Joe Rella resigned as president of Austal USA, and the company may be talking to General Dynamics to sell at least part of its Mobile shipyard. The Mobile Press-Register cited maritime analyst Tim Colton's blog. Colton said in a post today that the "hot rumor" is that a majority interest in the yard is being sold to General Dynamics, whose Marine Systems division includes Bath Iron Works and Electric Boat. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/26/12) Austal USA is owned by Australia's Austal.

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $17.4M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a $17,430,000 modification to previously awarded contract for DDG 51 class and CG 47 class Aegis Combat System installation, integration and test in support of the Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems. The required ship integration and test engineering for Aegis ships includes program management, planning, installation, integration, testing, training, personnel, and associated services to effectively support PEO IWS efforts for the installation, integration, and test of Aegis Combat Systems. Twenty-two percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula, Miss. Other work sites are Moorestown, N.J.; Bath, Maine; San Diego, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Port Hueneme, Calif.; and Syracuse, N.Y. Work is expected to be completed by November 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/25/12) Previous modification post

Ingalls gets tax break

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The city of Pascagoula passed a resolution this week waiving property tax for nine years on $18.8 million worth of machinery, equipment and furniture at Ingalls Shipbuilding. The exemption provides Ingalls with an annual savings of $111,637. The company told city councilmen it would help keep the yard viable in a competitive military shipbuilding environment. Total savings will be over $1.1 million. (Source: Mississippi Press, 06/21/12)

Austal USA wins award

Austal USA, Daikin America and Cascades Sonoco were announced as winners of the 2012 Manufacturer of the Year Awards at a luncheon today in Montgomery, Ala. The awards, presented by the Business Council of Alabama and the Alabama Technology Network, recognizes manufacturers in Alabama for excellence. Austal, of Mobile, builds aluminum ships for the Navy. It won in the large manufacturer category. (Source: Birmingham News, 06/20/12)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $11.8M

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded an $11,842,065 modification to previously awarded contract for DDG 51 class and CG 47 class Aegis Combat System installation, integration and test, and fleet life cycle engineering support. The required Aegis ship integration and test engineering includes: program management, planning, training, personnel, and services to effectively support Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems and Naval Sea Systems Command Surface Warfare directorate in the execution of the cruiser modernization program; and post availability test and trials, combat system ship qualification trials, and developmental test planning and execution. Twenty-two percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula, Miss. Other work will be done in Moorestown, N.J.; Bath, Maine; San Diego, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Port Hueneme, Calif.; and Syracuse, N.Y. Work is expected to be completed by September 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/19/12)

New GCRL director named

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. -- Dr. Eric Powell will become the new director of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, according to the University of Southern Mississippi, beginning in September. Powell is currently a professor at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at the School of Environmental and Biological Science at Rutgers University. Powell replaces Dr. Bill Hawkins, who retired June 2011. Hawkins led the GCRL’s expansion, which now includes 16 buildings at the lab’s 224-acre Cedar Point expansion site in Ocean Springs. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 06/12/12)

BAE starts hopper dredge project

MOBILE, Ala. -- BAE Systems has begun construction on the MV Magdalen, a trailing suction hopper dredge for Weeks Marine Inc. Executives from both companies were at BAE Systems' Mobile shipyard this week as steel was cut for the vessel's first module, which will weigh 130 tons. BAE expects to complete the 340-foot vessel in 2014. The vessel will be the first designed by Netherlands-based IHC Merwede to be built in the United States. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/07/12)

Decisive gets new commander

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Cmdr. Mark Walsh took over command of the 210-foot cutter Decisive during a ceremony Thursday at the Coast Guard Station at Singing River Island. Turning over command was Cmdr. Teri Jordan. The ship has been in Pascagoula since 1998. (Source: Sun Herald, 06/07/12)

Keel ceremony held

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Ingalls Shipbuilding held a brief ceremony Thursday to authenticate the keel for its 10th amphibious transport-dock ship, the John P. Murtha. Following U.S. Navy tradition, the keel was authenticated to verify it has been "truly and fairly laid." The keel-laying for the LPD 26 vessel was completed in February. The ship is in the San Antonio class. Ingalls has delivered six such ships to the Navy. (Source: Sun Herald, 06/06/12)

Contract: Ingalls, $17.3M

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $17,334,110 cost-plus-award-fee/cost-plus-fixed-fee with performance incentives contract for DDG 51-class follow yard services. The follow yard services provides necessary engineering, technical, material procurement and production support; configuration; class flight upgrades and new technology support; data and logistics management; lessons learned analysis; acceptance trials; post delivery test and trials; post shakedown availability support; reliability and maintainability; system safety program support; material and fleet turnover support; shipyard engineering team; turnkey; crew indoctrination, design tool/design standardization, detail design development, and other technical and engineering analyses for the purpose of supporting DDG 51 class ship construction and test and trials. In addition, DDG 51 class follow-yard services may provide design, engineering, procurement and manufacturing and production services to support design feasibility studies and analyses that modify DDG 51 class destroyers for Foreign Military Sales programs sponsored by the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss. (98 percent), and Washington, D.C. (2 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2013. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/07/12)

Building for the future

New maritime training academies in Pascagoula, Miss., and Mobile, Ala., will help ensure that area shipyards have a steady supply of workers. In Pascagoula, pilings on the $20 million, 76,000-square-foot Haley Reeves Barbour Maritime Training Academy north of Ingalls Shipbuilding are about 90 percent driven. In Mobile, the $12 million Maritime Training Center near Austal USA is already supplying workers. It opened in January 2011. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/05/12)

LHA launched from drydock

LHA 6, with LPD 24 in background. Ingalls photo

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The U.S. Navy's next amphibious assault ship, America (LHA 6), was launched from Ingalls Shipbuilding's floating drydock Monday. Ingalls last week received a $2.38 billion contract to build the next ship in the class, Tripoli (LHA 7). The two ships are the first in the new America class of amphibious assault ships. The ships are 844 feet long and 106 feet wide and will be capable of carrying a Marine Expeditionary Unit, including Marine helicopters, MV‐22 Osprey and F‐35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, allowing it to serve as a small aircraft carrier. (Source: Globe Newswire, 06/05/12)

Sub commissioned

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The $2 billion USS Mississippi nuclear submarine was set into active duty Saturday at 11:28 a.m. by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus at the Port of Pascagoula in a public event that drew spectators and dignitaries. The submarine arrived last week to the commissioning site on the west bank of the Pascagoula River. (Source: Sun Herald, 06/02/12)