Houma gets partial ESB5 award

General Dynamics’ National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. of San Diego was awarded a $106,167,876 contract action for the procurement of long lead-time material and engineering support for the Expeditionary Mobile Base 5 (formerly Mobile Landing Platform Afloat Forward Staging Base). ESB 1 through 3 has been delivered to the Navy. ESB 4 is nearing completion. ESB 5 is expected to be completed by March 2017. This action allows the procurement of ship sets of the purchase specifications supporting integrated propulsion, main diesel generator engines, propeller and shafting, integrated bridge electronics, centrifugal pumps, fuel and lube oil purifiers and steering gear components. More than 3 percent of the work will be conducted in Houma, La. (Source: DOD 05/31/16)

Ingalls prez talks LPD, DDG restart

It’s an uncertain time for the military’s shipbuilders – when the Navy predicts a frigate down-select may force one of seven major construction companies – in Alabama or Wisconsin - out of business. But business at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., is thriving: 10 ships across four classes are under construction. Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias sat down with USNI News for an interview to discuss LPD’s future, and DDG restart. (Source: US Naval Institute News 05/30/16)

Multiple Corps awards in region

** Norfolk Dredging Co., Chesapeake, Va., was awarded a $17,075,900 firm-fixed-price contract for marsh restoration in the New Orleans region. Completion work is to be done by Aug. 11, 2017. FY 2014 other procurement funds in the amount of $17,075,900 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Corps of Engineers of New Orleans is the contracting activity.
** Eustis Engineering Services LLC of Metairie, La., was awarded a $15,000,000 firm-fixed-price small business-related contract for geotechnical engineering for the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District and the Mississippi Valley Division. The estimated completion date is May 26, 2021. Funding and work location will be determined with each order. Army Corps of New Orleans is the contracting activity.
** MOWA Barlovento LLC JV of Gautier, Miss., CCI Energy and Construction Service LLC of Shalimar, Fla., and A.G. Gaston-PRI JV of Birmingham, Ala., were awarded a $15,000,000 order-dependent multiple award task order construction contract under the auspices of the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. The estimated completion date is May 31, 2017. The Army Contracting Command at Anniston Army Depot is the contracting activity. (Source: DOD 05/27/16)

Textron hopes to build CUSV at Slidell

Textron Systems Unmanned Systems has built flexibility into its Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle’s design and acquisition programs that may enable the Louisiana shipbuilder to sell the Navy on a new mine-hunting mission – a CUSV towing a minesweeper - before signing off on an original mine-sweeping mission contract, a company official said. TSUS hopes to sign a low-rate initial production contract for an Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) in the third quarter of FY 2017, but the Navy may buy CUSVs without the minesweeper sooner, says Wayne Prender, senior VP at Textron. The Navy has identified CUSV as one of three possible solutions to the mine-countermeasures mission challenge of the Littoral Combat Ship. The sea-service hopes to start testing the unmanned vehicle in the near future. UISS is more than halfway through its 30-month contract. In-water testing is expected in July; and delivery by early 2017. DOD has already signed off on the hull design. Textron, which already is building the Navy’s Ship to Shore Connection platforms, ha proposed and has capacity to build CUSVs at the same Slidell, La., operations. (Source: US Naval Institute News 05/23/16)

NGI, MSU share Gulf care award

The Northern Gulf Institute and Mississippi State University are sharing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2016 Sam D. Hamilton Award for Transformational Conservational Science. The organizations were partners in developing the Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment to identify natural habitats most in need of climate-related adaptation and mitigation strategies. The award recognizes "innovative applications of science to improve scientific quality, capability and efficiency to solve large scale conservations problems." It is accompanied by a check for $50,000 to further work on the program. NGI, based at Stennis Space Center, Miss., is a cooperative  led by MSU that also involves the University of Southern Mississippi, Florida State University, Louisiana State University and Dauphin Island Sea Lab. (Source: MSU 05/19/16)

HII using AR tablets to build ships

Huntington Ingalls Inc. is using augmented reality technology to bring shipbuilding into the 21st Century; and has produced a video showing how AR tablets can allow shipbuilders to "see through" a ship's hardware and overlay designs onto a real space for technicians. It is part of a bigger plan to turn shipbuilding into a paperless process, according to Matt Mulherin, corporate VP for HII and president of Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. AR is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are supplemented by computer-generated sensory input - such as sound, video, graphics or data. The AR tablets can also contain training videos, and instructional information for workers. HII-Newport News has completed 98 percent of work on CVN 78, aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. (Source: Defense Tech 05/19/16) Gulf Coast note: HII also operates Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.

LPD 27 to be christened

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The Navy will christen the newest amphibious transport dock ship, USS Portland (LPD 27), Saturday, May 21 during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula. This will be the third U.S. Navy ship named Portland, honoring both the Oregon seaport and Maine’s largest city. Portland will be the 11th San Antonio-class ship, and is currently scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2017. The ships are designed to support embarking, transporting, and landing elements of over 800 Marines with both a flight deck, which accommodates CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters and MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and a well deck that can launch and recover landing craft and amphibious vehicles. (Source: DoD, 05/20/16)

Frigate-choice decision by FY-18

Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s order to cut the Littoral Combat Ship program by 12 and select one of the two LCS shipyards to build future Navy frigates is pushing the service’s timeline for making a decision. Naval Sea Systems Command officials say they're making adjustments to avoid incurring extra costs as a result of the speeded-up schedule. Captain Dan Brintzinghoffer, program manager for future frigates, told attendees of the Sea Air Space expo May 18 that the Navy was officially planning to select a frigate variant and choose between Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., or Lockheed Martin to build them in FY 2018. In order to keep the deadline from raising costs, Brintzinghoffer said DOD is backing off both shipbuilders and allowing more freedom to design their frigate-specific variants. (Source: Military.com 05/19/16) Previously, the timeline had been FY 2019.

GC's Stark sailors memorialized

Twenty-nine years ago on May 17, a U.S. Navy frigate, USS Stark, was struck by two Iraqi-jet fired Exocet missiles off the Saudi Arabian coast in the Persian Gulf. Thirty-seven Americans were killed – including two Gulf Coast sailors. Twenty-one others were wounded. Some surviving members returned to the ship’s homeport at Mayport, Fla., Naval Station to remember lost shipmates in an hour-long memorial Tuesday. Gulf Coast sailors remembered include: SMSA Jeffrey C. Sibley of Metairie, La.; and SN Vincent L. Ulmer of Bay Minette, Ala. (Source: Florida Times Union 05/17/16) Gulf Coast Maritime Note: Senior regional naval officer, Vice Adm. Ron Thunman, chief of naval education and training aboard NAS Pensacola, Fla., presented the American flag to Ulmer’s family at the 1987 Bay Minette funeral.

Shell oil spill in GoM

NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard and Shell Oil continue joint efforts to recover and skim some 88,200 gallons of crude oil that spill May 12 into the Gulf of Mexico about 90 miles south of Timbalier Island, La. The response is to the oil discharge from a segment of flow line in the Glider Field. On-water recovery vessels are searching for oil that can be skimmed safely. Five on-water recovery vessels have been mobilized. More than 51,000 gallons of the oily-water mixture has been skimmed. The CG and Shell have mobilized some 130 response workers. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is leading the investigation to determine the cause of the release. (Source: 8th Coast Guard District 05/15/16)

LPD 26 delivered to Navy

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Huntington Ingalls Industries delivered the company's 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, John P. Murtha (LPD 26), to the U.S. Navy Friday. The ship, built at HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding division, was delivered during a ceremony with shipbuilders and ship's force together in attendance. LPD 26 is named in honor of the late John P. Murtha, who represented Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District from 1974 to 2010. In addition to John P. Murtha, Ingalls has the 11th LPD, Portland (LPD 27), under construction. Portland launched on Feb. 13 and will be christened on May 21. Ingalls has received more than $300 million in advance procurement funding for the 12th ship in the class, Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28). (Source: HII, 05/13/16)

Contract: HII, $15M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $14,954,986 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-12-C-2312 to exercise options for DDG 51 class follow yard services (FYS). The FYS contract provides liaison and technical support; engineering, design, and configuration management; systems engineering team; turnkey; and crew indoctrination and orientation. Work will be performed in Pascagoula (97 percent); Washington, D.C. (2 percent); and Bath, Maine (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by May 2017. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/13/16)

Miss. sailor among Navy's top sailors

Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Corey Smith of Jackson, Miss., has been selected Pacific Fleet Sailor of the Year. On May 12, he was also among four sailors earning the Chief of Naval Operation's Navy-wide sailors of the year. He went to corpsman "A" school and then to San Diego for lab technician school. From there he transferred to Naval Hospital Pensacola, Fla., and deployed to Guantanamo Bay with joint task force detainee operations, and back to NHP. Smith is currently a hospital corpsman aboard the USS Essex. (Source: Defense Media Activity 05/12/16) Gulf Coast Maritime Note: Smith holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. USS Essex (LHD-2) is home ported in San Diego. The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship was built on the Gulf Coast at Pascagoula, Miss. and commissioned in 1992.

HII subsidiary’s Proteus on display

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Proteus, a dual-mode undersea vehicle, and DroneDefender, an anti-drone system device, will be on display here at the Sea Air Space Show from May 16-18. Battelle and Huntington Ingalls Inc. subsidiary Undersea Solutions Group developed Proteus, which recently completed 720 hours of endurance testing – 2,412 simulated nautical miles in a submerged tank - in Panama City, Fla., to demonstrate reliability and long-duration missions for the Navy. Battelle’s DroneDefender is a portable system that provides security protection against small UAS devices through use of radio control frequency disruption. (Source: Market Wired 05/12/16) VIDEO OF PROTEUS AT SEA AIR SPACE EXPO. http://www.military.com/video/logistics-and-supplies/naval-equipment/sea-air-space-proteus/4896244512001

Shock trials for LCS-6

The Littoral Combat Ship program will reach multiple milestones this year. In early June, the Gulf Coast-built USS Jackson (LCS-6) will become the first LCS since 2008 to undergo full-ship shock trials. Two additional rounds would follow in two-week intervals on the Independence variant, according to outgoing program executive Rear Adm. Brian Antonio. The Freedom variant USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) will undergo the same tests later in the summer. The last time the Navy conducted live shock trials was with the amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19). USS Coronado (LCS-4) and USS Freedom (LCS-1) will participate in Rim of the Pacific exercise in Hawaii this summer. Coronado will demonstrate an over-the-horizon missile capability before heading on its first deployment to Singapore. Freedom will demonstrate an expeditionary mine-warfare package consisting of legacy MCM systems. (Source: US Naval Institute News 05/06/16) Gulf Coast note: The Independence variant of LCS is built at Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala.

LCS-4 to deploy ahead of down-select

The Navy is shifting its plans for future frigate buying while upping competition between the two Littoral Combat Ship variant builders. For Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., getting USS Coronado (LCS-4) out on its first deployment ahead of the Navy down-selecting only one builder is significantly important. Lockheed Martin builds the second variant. It will go a long way in validating the ship’s advertised capabilities, said LCS Program Executive Officer Rear Adm. Brian Antonio. LM’s first two ships, USS Freedom (LCS-1) and USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) have a total of 28 total months of forward-deployment experience. USS Coronado will be Austal’s first to deploy. Antonio said the ships’ deployments will help the Navy validate shipbuilders’ claims regarding each variant. “It’s not just going to be a straight price shoot-out,” said Antonio. It will be about meeting capabilities that are important to the fleet. The Navy was headed toward a two-shipbuilder frigate plan. This shift to a competitive environment between the shipyards caused the Navy’s chief buyer Sean Stackley to predict that the losing bid may force one the firms out of business. In this new environment, the two contractors will need to be innovative, add to their designs, and distinguish themselves. A draft Request For Proposals will come out this summer. The winning bid, according to Antonio, will be selected based on cost and best capabilities. (Source: US Naval Institute News 05/03/16)

Contract: Austal, $11.8M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded an $11,794,802 cost-plus-award-fee order against the previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00024-15-G-2304 to provide engineering and management services for advance planning and design in support of the post shakedown availability for the Littoral Combat Ship PCU Montgomery (LCS-8). Austal will provide design, planning, and material support services for the vessel. Efforts will include program management, advance planning, engineering, design, material kitting, liaison, and scheduling. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (92.3 percent); Mayport, Fla. (4.5 percent); and San Diego, Calif. (3.2 percent), and is expected to be completed by July 2017. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Gulf Coast, Pascagoula, Miss., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/05/16)

Contract: Austal, $24.6M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $24,604,790 undefinitized contract action for the procurement of long-lead-time material and initial engineering support for the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) 12 (formerly Joint High Speed Vessel 12). The EPF 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. This contract action is for the procurement of long-lead-time materials to support the detail design and construction of EPF 12. This action allows the procurement of ship sets for the specifications supporting main propulsion engines, shafting and bearings, waterjet propulsors, stern ramp, and anchor chains. Work will be performed in Novi, Mich. (65 percent); Houston, Texas (20 percent); Kingsford, Mich. (12 percent); Winter Haven, Fla. (2 percent); and Blaine, Wash. (1 percent); and is expected to complete by March 2020. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-16-C-2217). (Source: DoD, 05/04/16)

Embattled USS Cole & Fleet Week

The embattled USS Cole (DDG-67) will be participating in Fleet Week activities at Port Everglades, Fla., through May 9. USS Cole was the ship – with three Pensacola, Fla.-family connections aboard – that was nearly sunk in the port of Aden, Yemen, by terrorists’ explosives placed against its hull in October 2000. Seventeen sailors were killed. A group of detainees are awaiting trial at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility for allegedly planning the bombing - Walid bin Attash and Rhim Hussein al-Nashiri. But Mashur Abdallah Ahmed al Sabri, one of the other members of the alleged Cole cell, who was detained at ‘Gitmo’, was released to the government of Saudi Arabia on April 16 by the U.S. Defense Department. (Source: The Sextant 04/29/16) Gulf Coast Maritime Note: USS Cole was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Miss. It was commissioned at Port Everglades.

LCS-4 to deploy with Fire Scout-plus

The Gulf Coast-built Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS-4) is being outfitted with an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle with a newly upgraded ground control system. Coronado is preparing for its first deployment - to Singapore. The Fire Scout system, part of the surface warfare mission package, was previously tested on USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) last year. Coronado's MH-60S helicopter and MQ-8B combo deployment will take on a different mode. It will be the “first of its kind” for Helicopter Sea Combat operations, HSC-23’s Lt. Cmdr. Evan Young said. It will include the deployment of the AN/ZPY-4 Fire Scout radar; and hoping to integrate Fire Scout and the MH-60S to act as a force multiplier, according to Young. Coronado was put through 10 days of training scenarios to simulate potential missions it may face across the U.S. 7th Fleet’s area of responsibility. (Source: USNI News 04/29/16) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: USS Coronado was built at Austal USA shipyards in Mobile, Ala. It is the second in-class Independence variant of LCS.

Rehab’d dolphin back in GoM

A dolphin, stranded last fall near Grand Isle, La., was returned to the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico on April 28 after rehabbing at Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center in New Orleans. The male dolphin, nicknamed Octavius, was beached Oct. 26, likely as a result of rough seas from Hurricane Patricia. Several agencies worked to save dolphin, including the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Chicago Zoological Society's Sarasota Dolphin Research Program. The dolphin was the first to be rescued, rehabilitated and released back into the waters off Louisiana’s coast. (Times-Picayune 04/28/16)