LCS warfare package eval delayed

The Littoral Combat Ship's mine-countermeasures (MCM) mission package won’t reach its operational status by Sept. 30 after reliability issues forced the program to stretch the timeline for initial testing in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mobile, Ala.-built USS Independence (LCS-2) has been off the coast of Northwest Florida conducting a technical evaluation since April, and it was to have wrapped up in early June to allow the start of its operational test and evaluation in July and final operational declaration before the start of FY 2016. But Capt. Casey Moton, LCS missions' modules program manager, said there were reliability problems in the technical evaluation that happened on two separate mine clearance runs that led the program office to extend the evaluation period. There wasn't a single point of failure in the testing, with some even involved the ship itself. Moton is certain the mission package will reach operational status at the end of the latest evolution. (Source: US Naval Institute News 07/31/15) The MCM package was developed at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City, Fla. Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., has provided a home port for the ship during the test period.

ASW overweight for LCS

The Littoral Combat Ship's anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission package is overweight and can't deploy aboard ship until it drops pounds. Capt. Casey Moton, LCS Mission Module program manager, told the Mine Warfare Association that each of his three warfare modules is given 231,485 pounds for each LCS, but ASW alone surpassed the weight limit. The Navy has hired Advanced Acoustic Concepts, L-3 Communications and Raytheon to find weight-reduction measures. Each team will submit a package to bring the mission module to a manageable weight. Navy will pick the best ideas and use them to engineer development models (EDM). (Source: US Naval Institute News, 07/30/15) Gulf Coast note: Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., builds the Independence class LCS variant, and Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City, Fla., is developing the LCS mine-counter measures warfare package.

Contract: HII, $93M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $93,034,622 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-12-C-4323) to provide incremental level of effort, long lead-time material procurement, and management services for CG-47-class cruisers. Work will be performed in Pascagoula and is expected to be completed by September 2016. Fiscal 2015 operation and maintenance Navy funding in the amount of $11,399,088 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Gulf Coast, Pascagoula, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 07/30/15)

HII shows off shipyard

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – Huntington Ingalls Industries gave its first tour of its Shipyard of the Future to editors Wednesday. The initiative means a new dry dock, better-trained employees, easier access to work space and more covered areas to keep workers out of the elements. The yard already has 40 percent more covered area than it did 25 years ago. The program is funded in part with $20 million from Mississippi bonds and $40 million from HII. The company, long known for its heavy manufacturing, has also branched out. This year it bought a company that's building and testing undersea drones out of Panama City, Fla., and HII also now owns an undersea-pipeline design company in Houston working in the oil and gas industry. (Source: Sun Herald, 07/29/15)

Propellers for Zumwalt delivered

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Rolls-Royce has delivered twin fixed-pitch propellers to Bath Iron Works in Maine for installation on the future USS Zumwalt, first ship of the DDG 1000 destroyer class. The delivery marks the completion of the power and propulsion system delivery from Rolls-Royce, following the MT30 main turbine generator sets and the RR4500 auxiliary turbine generator sets, which already have been installed and tested. The five-bladed nickel aluminium bronze propellers measure more than 18 feet in diameter and weigh nearly 60,000 pounds apiece. The propellers were cast and machined at the Rolls-Royce facility in Pascagoula. The production of the unique pattern, designed by Naval Sea Systems Command, began more than six years ago, with the first set of finished propellers being delivered by Rolls-Royce from Pascagoula to Bath Iron Works in May. (Source: Seapower Magazine, 07/28/15)

LHA 7 30 percent complete

Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., has completed about 30 percent of its construction on the future USS Tripoli, the second America-class amphibious assault ship. Tripoli (LHA 7) is tentatively scheduled for launch in July 2017, Navy officials said. The ship is slated for delivery in December 2018. (Source: DOD Buzz, 07/25/15)

Oyster project for NW Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection signed an agreement to award $4.4 million to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to implement the Oyster Cultch Placement project. The project is designed to restore oyster beds in Apalachicola, Pensacola and St. Andrew bays in Northwest Florida. The award is part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Phase III early restoration funding as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Source: Florida Department of Environmental Protection 07/25/15)

Layoffs for HII in Virginia

Huntington Ingalls Industries, the Navy’s largest shipbuilder, may have to cut at least 1,500 personnel from its payroll over the next year-and-a-half to counter an anticipated two-year slowdown in work at its Newport News, Va., shipyard - even while it is preparing to bid billions of dollars for work on new aircraft carriers, submarines and other ships. In a notice to personnel at HII, the company said it planned at least 500 jobs to be cut in the fall at the Virginia yard. More than 1,000 more layoffs will likely follow in 2016. There are 38,000 personnel working at Newport News. HII anticipates a rebound in 2017. (Source: Wall Street Journal 07/25/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding: None of the announced layoffs were related to HII’s Gulf Coast shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.

Gulf-built NY returns from deployment

The amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) returned to Mayport, Fla., on July 19 marking the end of a second deployment since being commissioned in 2009. USS New York deployed as part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in December. The ready group was also comprised of embarked Marines, USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and USS Fort McHenry. New York sailed more than 15,000 nautical miles, supported 2,646 flights, completed a Chief of Naval Operations special project, and conducted a rescue at sea. New York made port calls in Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, and France. (Source: Jacksonville.com 07/22/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: Capt. Kenneth Coleman, a native New Yorker, became the ship’s commanding officer at sea on May 1. He had previously commanded USS Independence (LCS 2), the first Independence class Littoral Combat Ship built at Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Ala. USS New York was built at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans.

Gulf-area waters restoration grants

ATLANTA – The Southern Company in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and other public/private partners has awarded $2.3 million in grants to 64 organizations nationwide – including Mississippi and Northwest Florida - as part of the Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration program. The 2015 program funding directly supports 12 habitat-restoration projects and helping restore more than 83 acres and 750 feet of stream-banks across four southern states. (Source: PR Newswire 07/22/15) Gulf Coast Maritime Note: In Mississippi: The Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain for scientific and educational activities on Weeks Bayou in Jackson County; Jackson County Board of Supervisors for development of practical tidal wetland mitigation methods and practices.; and the Crosby Arboretum Foundation and partners will construct a unique 900-square-foot quaking bog wetland exhibit at The Crosby Arboretum Interpretive Center in Picayune. In Northwest Florida, the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance will engage with students in Okaloosa and Walton counties through a hands-on science education programs and the replanting of 1.2 acres of salt marsh habitat and restoration of 1.3 acres of dune habitat.

Ingalls begins destroyer fabrication

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Ingalls Shipbuilding has marked the start of fabrication for the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG 119). The start of fabrication signifies that 100 tons of steel have been cut. The ship is named in honor of Delbert D. Black, who served as a gunner's mate and was aboard the battleship USS Maryland during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Black served in three wars and was the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. Delbert D. Black is the 32nd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be built at Ingalls. From this point on, shipbuilders will assemble the ship using modular construction, where pre-fabricated units are constructed separately and later lifted in place and integrated with other units. To date, Ingalls has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy. (Source: HII, 07/21/15)

Marine center plans unveiled

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. — The University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory unveiled plans for a new $17 million marine education center. The center will be built on Cedar Point land the university bought in Ocean Springs several years ago. It replaces the old center that Hurricane Katrina destroyed on Point Cadet in Biloxi ten years ago. Land is being cleared, and construction should take about 18 months. Most of the costs are being paid by FEMA. (Source: WLOX-TV, 07/21/15)

Impeccable rescue

Crewmembers aboard the surveillance ship USNS Impeccable rescued 11 Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea on July 19, Navy officials said. Impeccable was en route to Subic Bay, Philippines, for a scheduled port visit when it spotted and rescued the fishermen on a partially submerged vessel 115 miles from Subic. (Source: Stars and Stripes 07/20/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding note: The hull of the USNS Impeccable was completed in 1995 by Halter Marine Inc. of Gulfport, Miss.

LCS 20 named

The next Independence variant littoral combat ship will be named USS Cincinnati (LCS 20). It will be the fifth ship in naval history to be named Cincinnati. The ship will be built with modular design incorporating mission packages that can be changed out quickly as combat needs change in a region. These mission packages are supported by detachments that deploy both manned and unmanned vehicles, and sensors in support of mine, undersea, and surface warfare missions. Cincinnati will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. It will be 419 feet long and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 40 knots. (Source: DoD, 07/19/15)

Contract: HII, $15.4M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $15,363,387 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00024-12-C-4323) to provide long lead-time material procurement, management services, and incremental level of effort for Ticonderoga-class cruisers. Huntington Ingalls will provide necessary engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data and logistics efforts for both maintenance and modernization. Work will be performed in Pascagoula and is expected to be completed by September 2016. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Gulf Coast, Pascagoula, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 07/17/15)

NSC James leaves shipyard

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The National Security Cutter James (WMSL 754) sailed away from Ingalls Shipbuilding on Sunday, one month after being delivered to the United States Coast Guard. It will be commissioned on Aug. 8 in Boston. The ship will then be stationed in Charleston, S.C., alongside Ingalls' fourth NSC, Hamilton (WMSL 753). National Security Cutters are 418 feet long and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120. (Source: HII, 07/14/15)

HII gets RFP for LHA-8

The Navy issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) June 25 directly to Huntington Ingalls Industries and General Dynamics’s San Diego-based NASSCO shipyard for the third America-class amphibious warship and six next-generation oilers (TAO(X)). The firms were deemed by the Navy as the only ones capable of building the oiler and LHA-8. The RFP was issued without public notification on the U.S. FedBizOpps website. The Navy expects responses by the fall; yet they won’t be publically releasable. LHA-8 will follow the first two America-class amphibs – America (LHA-6) and Tripoli (LHA-7) – that were built without a well-deck to launch landing craft. LHA-8 – and the rest of the class – will include a well-deck. The Navy will likely look at those two firms to compete for the next generation LX(R) amphibious warship, slated to start construction in 2020. (U.S. Naval Institute News 07/10/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., builds the current LHAs for the Navy.

NAVSCIATTS gets new CO

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Navy Cmdr. Clay M. Pendergrass became the new commanding officer of the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School (NAVSCIATTS) in a change of command ceremony July 9. Pendergrass, a Louisiana native, is prior enlisted. He served on both East and West coast SEAL teams and completed numerous deployments. Outgoing commander, Cmdr. John C. Cowan will attend National Defense University in Washington. (Source: Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School 07/10/15) NAVSCIATTS is schoolhouse operating under the U.S. Special Operations Command. It trains and educates partner-nation security forces in topics including small craft strategy to operational instructor development.

Ala. firm earns $141M sub contract

International Marine and Industrial Applicators of Spanish Fort, Ala., was awarded $141,458,723 for a Navy contract to furnish management, material support, labor, supplies and equipment to perform depot/intermediate level preservation on Los Angeles, Virginia and Ohio-class submarines. Work is in Norfolk, Va., and expected to be completed in July 2020. Spanish Fort is located in Baldwin County, across the bay from Mobile. (DOD 07/08/15)

Safety zones for Blues’ air shows

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. - The Coast Guard is scheduled to set up two temporary safety zones – from July 8-12 and between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. - in portions of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and Santa Rosa Sound around Pensacola Beach during the annual Blue Angels’ air show over the Gulf of Mexico. The GoM safety zone includes all waters 1.75 nautical miles east and 1.5 nautical miles west of Pensacola Beach’s Gulf Pier and extending 1,000 yards south of Pensacola Beach. This safety zone is for the protection of persons and vessels on navigable waters during the air show. A portion of the Santa Rosa Sound safety zone includes waters from Deer Point to Sharp Point and within Little Sabine Bay. The CG has added a new safety measure: A 200-yard no-wake-zone all around the Bob Sikes Bridge that will be enforced during rehearsals and air show. Vessels seeking to enter Little Sabine Bay for two hours following the air shows must contact the on-scene Captain of the Port via VHF channel 16 for authorization. Vessel traffic may contact the CG on VHF-FM Channel 16, the Patrol Commander at CG Station Pensacola at (850) 453-8282 or Coast Guard Sector Mobile's Captain of the Port at (251) 441-5976. (Source: GC District 8 07/07/15)

Web-based map IDs Fla. beaches

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Department of Environment Protection’s Florida Coastal Management Program has introduced a “Florida Beach Access Guide” interactive web-based map and app for mobile devices. This guide enables the public to locate all 2,000 beach access points throughout Florida. The access guide is divided into three regions – Panhandle, Atlantic Coast and Southwest Florida. For mobile access, visit iTunes or Android Market to download the Explorer for ArcGIS app and then search for "Florida Beach Access Guide." (Source: Florida EPA 07/96/2015)

USA grad takes CG command

PADUCAH, Ky. - Cmdr. Mark Sawyer, a former Mobile, Ala.-based coast guardsman and University of South Alabama graduate, relieved Capt. Rob McLellan as commanding officer of Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Paducah in an official change-of-command ceremony June 30. Marine Safety Unit Paducah oversees CG commercial vessel safety, port safety and security, and marine environmental protection across parts of the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers. (Source: CG 8th District 07/01/15)

LCS-6 completes trials

The Littoral Combat Ship Jackson (LCS-6) has completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of its planned delivery this summer, Naval Sea Systems Command announced June 30. The Independence-class LCS, built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., completed its five-day trial to prove “the performance of the propulsion plant, ship handling and auxiliary systems.” Jackson is the third of four aluminum trimarans built by Austal. Following commissioning later this summer, Jackson will be home-ported in San Diego. (Source: USNI News 06/30/15)