MDMR to close 3 fishing seasons

BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources announced Oct. 28 the closing of two commercial fishing seasons and one recreational fishing season in Mississippi waters at the close of Oct. 31. The commercial fishing seasons for Spotted Sea Trout and Red Drum; and recreational season for Red Snapper will close at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday. The commercial seasons reopen Jan. 1. The recreational season reopens Feb. 1. (Source: MDMR 10/28/15)

Navy mulls missiles for next LCS

The Navy is “exploring options” that may add over-the-horizon surface-to-surface missiles for the next pair of deployable Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) in order to boost their weapons system, Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Megan Shutka said Oct. 26 without elaborating. No decision has been made, she indicated, because it was still "in the analysis phase." Defense News cited a Sept. 17 directive from the Director of Surface Warfare, Rear Adm. Peter Fanta, that the Navy plan was to install a missile "aboard all in-service (LCS) deploying to forward operating stations starting in fiscal year 2016" and on ships under construction. The report also indicated the plan was to try both Boeing’s Harpoon missile and Norway’s Kongsberg Gruppen ASA's Naval Strike Missile. Kongsberg had fired a missile from an LCS last year. (Source: Reuters 10/26/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., builds one of the two LCS variants.

Contract: Swiftships, $11M

Swiftships Shipbuilders LLC, Morgan City, La., is being awarded a $10,976,701 firm-fixed-price delivery order under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00024-15-G-4209 for one year of services to operate and upgrade the Iraqi navy ship repair facility. This effort encompasses one year of labor and the associated travel, basic life support services, and force protection services to operate and support the facility. Work will be performed at Umm Qasr Naval Base, Iraq, and is expected to be completed October 2016. Foreign military sales funding in the amount of $10,976,701 will be obligated at time of award and 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, 10/22/15)

CG warrant's NOLA court-martial

NEW ORLEANS - The Eighth Coast Guard District was scheduled to convene a general court-martial of a Port Arthur, Texas-based service in New Orleans at the Hale Boggs Federal Building on Oct. 18. Chief Warrant Officer Richard M. Clark is accused of multiple violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice including aggravated assault with a firearm among others. The district commander for the eighth district referred Clark’s case to a general court-martial on June 4 following an Article 32 hearing completed April 24. CWO Clark is currently administratively assigned to Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston. Charges are accusations against the individual and the accused is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. (Source: CG District Eight 10/18/19)

NOLA to host nat’l naval group

New Orleans will host the National Congress of the Naval Order of the United States on Oct. 21-23. The organization is the oldest military society of its kind in the nation. Retired Navy Adm. Jim Stavridis will receive the Distinguished Sea Service Award. The Florida native was the longest-serving combat commander in recent U.S. history. Navy Reserve Capt. Robert Lansden, who was reared in nearby Ponchatoula, La., was among the heroes of Hurricane Katrina, will be on the list of speakers. (Source: Times-Picayune 10/19/15)

Boaters rescued near Empire, La.

Five recreational boaters were rescued Oct. 17 by ‘Good Samaritans’ and the Coast Guard after their 20-foot boat started taking on water about 18 miles offshore of Empire, La. – about 45 miles south of Belle Chasse, according to Coast Guard District 8 headquarters. The CG sent out an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from CG Station New Orleans and a 45-foot response boat from Grand Isle. The five people were initially picked up by an offshore support vessel OSV Joseph Bisso that was nearby and heard the distress call. The CG towed the boat back to Grand Isle. (Source: Times-Picayune 10/18/15)

Littoral RMS to get Navy review

U.S. Sen. John McCain is welcoming the Navy's decision to order an independent review of the Littoral Combat Ship’s oft-delayed Remote Minehunting System (RMS) after an August memo about "inflated" estimates of reliability for Lockheed Martin’s remote mine-hunting vehicle (MHV). The August memo from Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation, asserted the Navy inflated operating time estimates and concluded RMS was breaking down after 18.8-to-25 hours of use, far short of the required 75 hours. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman welcomed the Navy's decision Oct. 14 to order an independent review of the 17-year, $700 million RMS program. There is another $868 million earmarked for 54 future vehicles. Lawmakers want the Navy to look at alternatives before buying more. LM spokesman Keith Little says the system's mean time between failures is 117.3 hours, far above the Navy’s requirement. RMS consists of a semi-submersible remote multi-missions vehicle (RMMV) operating with the AN/AQS-20A variable depth mine-hunting sonar. It is designed to detect, classify, identify and locate bottom and moored mines in shallow and deep water as part of LCS’ mine-countermeasures mission package. (Reuters 10/14/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: The Navy ordered a review of RMS, and its core Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV), after unacceptable performances in a technical evaluation period that began in September. Gilmore detailed 41 RMS and RMMV failures aboard LCS Independence (LCS-2) while operating primarily in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City and Pensacola. The tests were conducted using four RMMVs. Failures occurred on all four and in numerous areas, including equipment and software. LCS-2 was built by Austal USA’s shipyard at Mobile, Ala.

Coastal grant program deadline

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida Coastal Management Program will be accepting applications for a Coastal Partnership Initiative (CPI) grant program until Oct. 30. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) makes these federal funds available on a competitive basis to eligible governments to support community projects such as habitat restoration, park planning and improvements, waterfront revitalization and improving communities’ resiliency to coastal hazards. (Florida DEP 10/09/15)

HII/Petters honored by CG

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries was honored Oct 8 by the Coast Guard Foundation at the 35th annual salute to the U.S. Coast Guard in New York City. Petters and HII were recognized for their support of the CG foundation and its mission for the past 30 years. Serving as president/CEO since March 2011, Petters is responsible for leading the design, construction and overhaul of Navy warships and Coast Guard National Security cutters. In remarks, Petters said he was “touched and honored” on behalf of HII. (Source: HII 10/12/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: HII is America’s largest military shipbuilding company. For more than a century, HII's Newport News and Pascagoula, Miss., (Ingalls) shipbuilding divisions have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding constructs Legend-class National Security cutters, flagships of the Coast Guard.

El Faro had Gulf Coast connection

The container ship El Faro, which likely sank in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Joaquin, had undergone a mid-body conversion at Atlantic Marine in Mobile, Ala. The ship, at the time called Northern Lights, was rechristened at Atlantic Shipyard in Mobile on Jan. 17, 2006. The mid-body conversion lengthened the ship by cutting it into two pieces - bow section removed - and floating the mid-body nto place and re-connecting it to the bow. The 790-foot ship had two 43-person lifeboats, five life rafts and 46 water survival suits, according to the Coast Guard and the ship's owner. It's not known if the crew could deploy those items before becoming disabled and losing power near the Bahamas. (FOX 10 TV 10/06/15)