Ex-Navy man long shot for VA

Slidell, La., lawyer John Wells, a retired Navy surface warfare commander, is being trumpeted as a candidate for Secretary of Veterans Affairs in President-elect Donald Trump's administration. Local Republicans admit he’s considered a long shot for the post. On Nov. 22, the St. Tammany Republican Parish Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution suggesting Trump appoint the 66-year-old Wells. He is executive director of the non-profit Military-Veterans Advocacy based in Louisiana. The organization provides comprehensive legal advocacy and assistance in obtaining benefits for current and former military members around the nation. Wells retired from the Navy in 1994. (Source: Times-Picayune 11/28/16)

DDG 117 launched

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Ingalls Shipbuilding launched Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), the company’s 31st Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided-missile destroyer, on Nov. 12. , the company said in a nced in a Nov. 16 release. Paul Ignatius was moved via Ingalls’ rail car system to a floating dry dock. Once on the dry dock it was moved away from the pier and ballasted to float the ship. Ingalls has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the U.S. Navy. Other destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls include John Finn (DDG 113), Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) and Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121). Construction on Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2017. (Source: HII, 11/16/16)

GoM output up; rig, spending dips

Capital spending by oil producers has been lower in the Gulf of Mexico and the world through 2016, says Loren Scott, Louisiana State University emeritus economics professor. The count in the GoM fell to 14 offshore rigs in early 2016 down from 56 in 2014. Drill ships are not working. Yet, oil production will continue to rise in 2017 because of deep water projects from 10 years ago, Scott said. The Energy Information Administration anticipates GoM oil output averaging 1.79 million barrels per day in 2017; and reach a record 1.91 million bpd in late 2017. The decline in working rigs has taken a toll on employment. The Lafayette area should lose 9,000 jobs maybe 5,000 next year. Houma could be down 5,400 jobs this year and 4,000 next. Louisiana as a whole should lose over 17,000 jobs in 2016. GoM shipyards have shed workers. Edison Chouest Offshore of Cut Off has laid off more than 1,000. (Marine Link 11/22/16)

La. port to extend discounts

In October, Chett Chiasson, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission in south Louisiana, said utilization of offshore vehicles in the state's waters of the Gulf of Mexico was very low. Since March 2015, the port has been giving tenants a 20% reduction on basic land rentals. It was approved until December, “but given current conditions, we anticipate extending it into 2017,” he said. About 80 firms, including oil and gas companies, hold 140 leases at the port. The 1,200-acre port services about 90 percent of all deep water activity in the GoM. It’s considered a key one-stop service spot by the oil industry. (Source: Marine Link, 11/22/16)

LCS 10 completes GoM trials

The USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), a fifth Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship built by Austal USA’s shipyards in Mobile, Ala., successfully completed acceptance trials Nov. 18 in the Gulf of Mexico. The milestone involved the execution of intense comprehensive tests by the Austal-led industry team while underway. Acceptance trials are the last significant event before delivery of the ship, which is expected soon. Austal USA is progressing on a steady pace with seven ships currently under construction. The Omaha (LCS 12) and Manchester (LCS 14) are preparing for trials. Tulsa (LCS 16) will be christened and launched in early 2017. Final assembly is underway on Charleston (LCS 18); and modules for Cincinnati (LCS 20) and Kansas City (LCS 22) are under construction in Austal’s module manufacturing facility. (Source: Marine Link 11/25/16)

Two Gulf Shores restoration projects

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation approved $63 million for six projects across Alabama, including one each at Fort Morgan and Bon Secour, as part of the fourth round of grants from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund established to restore natural resources damaged during the 2010 BP oil spill. The Gulf Shores area acquisitions will eliminate the likely risk of future development in those pristine natural habitats. The acquisition project for the Bon Secour-Little Lagoon watershed protects covers about 935 acres of a diverse coastal habitat in Gulf Shores. The Gulf Highlands project on the Fort Morgan peninsula covers 113 acres with 2,700 feet of Gulf frontage. (Source: Mullet Wrapper 11/23/16)

New PC may bode well for GC ports

LONDON - The Panama Canal has overtaken the Suez Canal as the favored transit route for carriers operating services between Asia and the US East/Gulf coasts following the widening of the Central America waterway. A recently published network of the Ocean Alliance and The Alliance, which will launch April 2017, indicates more carriers are pledging support to the Panama Canal, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants. The average size of ships transiting the Panama Canal will likely surpass the 8,000-TEU Suez average by April 2017, according to Drewry. Traffic on the Asia-US West Coast route has risen by 1.4 percent over the first 10 months of 2016 compared to 1.1 percent for the East Coast. Volumes to the US Gulf Coast have surged 20 percent, but remain a small fraction of the total Asia-US trade. (Source: JOC 11/22/16)

Contract: HII, $43.6M

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $43,569,211 fixed-price incentive (firm target), undefinitized contract action modification to previously awarded contract N00024-13-C-2307 for long lead time material and associated non-recurring engineering and pre-production activities required to support ship construction efforts for the DDG-125 ship. Work will be performed in Pascagoula (26.9 percent); Indianapolis, Ind. (20.1 percent); York, Pa. (16 percent); Milwaukee, Wis. (15.7 percent); High Ridge, Mo. (9.2 percent); Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (8 percent); and Shreveport, La. (4.1 percent), and is expected to be completed by July 2022. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 11/22/16)

CG rescues shrimpers

Coast Guard New Orleans personnel saved two shrimpers Nov. 19 after their boat sank near the bank of Proctor's Point in Lake Borgne, La. The St. Bernard Sheriff's Office alerted the CG that the shrimpers' skiff had sunk, forcing them to swim to shore. CG crews were deployed on 24-foot response boat and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to locate the men. The helicopter crew hoisted the boaters aboard and transferred them to CG Air Station New Orleans where they were treated by emergency medical personnel. There were no injuries. The men were not identified. (Source: Times-Picayune 11/20/16)

La. firm Lake Pontchartrain pact

Crosby Dredging of Galliano, La., was awarded a $13,126,775 firm-fixed-price contract for wetland restoration in existing shallow open water via borrow dredging from a designated borrow pit within Lake Pontchartrain. Both bottomland hardwood-wet and marsh platforms will be constructed. The work requires retention dike construction, board road placement, and a jack-and-bore effort to provide the dredge disposal pipeline access to the construction site. Work will be performed in Lacombe, La., with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2018. Army Corps of Engineers of New Orleans is the contracting activity. (Source: DOD 11/18/16)

Award for SUPSHIP Gulf Coast

The Department of the Navy recognized more than 50 acquisition professionals and organizations for exceptional efforts in the acquisition field during a Pentagon ceremony Nov. 17. The 2016 Acquisition Excellence Awards event was hosted by Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) celebrating individuals and teams for upholding key tenets of acquisition. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast, located at Pascagoula, Miss., was presented the Field Acquisition Activity Award. (Source: Marine Link 11/20/16)

GIS-La. launches ‘Warhorse’

Gulf Island Shipyards, a division of Gulf Island Fabrication Inc., launched its newly built M/V HOS Warhorse on Nov. 2 at its Jennings, La. facility. The HOS Warhorse, the first of a two vessel contract for Hornbeck Offshore Services, will be relocated to Gulf Island Shipyard’s Houma, La., location for final outfitting, testing, commissioning and delivery to Hornbeck during the first quarter of 2018. Warhorse is 365 feet long and will be outfitted with two large, heave-compensated cranes and can accommodate 102 people. The vessel will be certified for worldwide operations.(Source: Marine Link 11/17/16)

Reverse course in the GoM

The Obama administration has banned offshore drilling in the Arctic setting a potential collision with President-elect Donald Trump, who vowed to “unleash” new energy production in the U.S. The Interior Department’s move is part of a new five-year plan for energy development in federal waters, and would temporary halt exploration in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the Alaskan coast. Additionally, the department dropped plans to allow companies to drill for oil and natural gas in the Atlantic Ocean off of four southern states. The Interior Department’s final plan, which would dictate offshore drilling through 2022, offers 11 potential leases for sale off the nation’s coasts. Ten of those are in the Gulf of Mexico. (Source: Washington Post 11/18/16)

Sub Drum restoration ceremony

Six years of restoration efforts on the WWII submarine USS Drum – a fixture at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Ala., - culminates Saturday Nov. 19 with a special ceremony marking 75 years since its commissioning. As a team, Tom Bowser and Leslie Waters have led the efforts to maintain and restore the submarine. Bowser is a submarine veteran. He has volunteered over the past 10 years to help in the restoration. Waters is employed at Battleship Park and has been working on Drum for 19 years. The ceremony is at 11a.m. Saturday at the Aircraft Pavilion at Battleship Park. The public is invited. Drum was donated to battleship park in 1969. (Source: WKRG 11/17/16)

Contractor completes GoM campaign

BISSO MARINE, a Gulf Coast-based full service offshore and subsea infrastructure services contractor, completed a 2-month saturation diving campaign in the Gulf of Mexico using its construction barge Bisso Subsea Vision to configure a variety of services including several subsea abandonments in water depths of up to 700 feet. The barge also recently completed the laying and burial of several miles of bundled pipeline in Gulf. The fully classed 12-man saturation system on the Bisso Subsea Vision has a 3-man bell deployed through a moon pool and a side-launched hyperbaric rescue chamber. BISSO MARINE is headquartered in Houston, and has a logistics base in New Orleans. (Source: Marine Link 11/16/16)

NYC ferries being built on GC

Horizon Shipbuilding of Bayou La Batre, Ala., has landed contracts for projects along the Gulf Coast to New York City. Horizon is contracted to build at least 10 NYC aluminum passenger ferries. The contract could reach as much as $40M, and has created about 80 new jobs. The ferries are part of an effort by NYC’s mayor and Economic Development Corporation to expand and improve public transportation in the city. “We specifically chose the Gulf (Coast) because the oil industry is down a little bit, so there’s manpower available here to shift to the passenger vessel industry,” said Hornblower Company’s CEO Terry MacRae in NYC. The firm will be operating the NYC ferry service. Metal Shark Aluminum Boats of Jeanerette, La., is also building identical ferries as part of the project, and even though the two companies are collaborating, there are more ferries up for grabs for construction contracts. (Source: WKRG 11/16/16)

LHA-8 would be built at Ingalls

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Nov. 9 that the next amphibious assault ship would be named after Bougainville Island in the Solomons, the location of a strategic WWII battle. The future Bougainville (LHA-8) will be the third America-class ship and the first Flight 1 design that reintroduces a well deck for surface connector operations. The future Bougainville is expected to be bought in the FY 2017-18 budgets. It will be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and should be delivered in 2024. USS America (LHA-6) – also built at Ingalls - has no well deck and instead devotes a massive amount of internal space for aviation maintenance, storage and support for more aircraft and for the larger next-generation aircraft such as the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and MV-22 Osprey. The Bougainville will strike a middle ground, maintaining that emphasis on aviation while adding back a small well through reductions in medical and other spaces. (Source: USNI News 11/09/16)

Ingalls’ DDG 113 completes sea trials

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Ingalls Shipbuilding announced Nov. 11 it successfully completed the third and final round of sea trials for the guided missile destroyer John Finn (DDG 113). The Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyer spent two days in the Gulf of Mexico testing the ship’s various systems for acceptance trials. The Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey spent time onboard evaluating the ship’s overall performance. The Navy required three sea trials as part of the restart of the DDG 51 program. Shipbuilders will put the final touches on the ship for its delivery in December. Ingalls has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy. Others under construction are the Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) and Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121). Construction of Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) is scheduled to begin in mid-2017. (HII 11/11/16)

At-sea Marines set F-35B milestone

An aircrew from Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 at Yuma, Ariz., proved that maintaining an F-35B fifth-generation jet could be done at sea aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America. They took apart one of seven F-35Bs aboard and conducted a power module and engine swap, then put it back together Nov. 9. It was a new milestone for the program. Aboard “amphibs,” there is less room than on aircraft carriers. It is key that maintenance personnel know how to complete such complex jobs. The full process took a week, officials said, as the crew entered every action into the Autonomic Logistic Information System maintenance software. The seven F-35Bs aboard USS America will continue testing at sea for another week. This final round of developmental tests comes just two months before the first operational squadron is to deploy permanently with F-35Bs to Japan, where they will eventually be assigned to USS Wasp in 2018. (Source: DOD Buzz 11/10/16) Gulf Coast Note: USS America was primarily constructed at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.

Battleship commissioner passes away

Former Alabama state Sen. John Malcolm Tyson, 91, a longtime resident of Mobile, and an emeritus member – and among the founders - of the USS Alabama Battleship Commission, passed away Nov. 7. Tyson, a graduate of the University of Alabama, served in the Navy as a combat pilot during WWII and the Korean War. He remained in the Naval Reserve as a pilot and Judge Advocate General for over 40 years, retiring at the rank of commander. He was a member of the Reserve Officers Association and the 2001 Veteran of the Year. As an Alabama state senator, Tyson sponsored the legislation and was one of the founders of the University of South Alabama, and served as Member of the Board of Trustees for over 10 years. He fought for the Veteran's Cemetery at Mobile, and a VA Level One hospital for the Gulf Coast. Today, there is a VA hospital at Biloxi, Miss. (Source: AL.com 11/98/16) Gulf Coast Note: He is the father of former Mobile District Attorney John Tyson Jr., and grandfather of actor Richard Tyson.

GoM groups seek info from gov’t

Seeking information related to the changes to the financial assurances and bonding required of offshore oil and gas producers, four oil and gas industry trade groups – National Ocean Industries Association, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, and the Gulf Economic Survival Team - have submitted Freedom of Information Act requests to both the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Department of the Interior (DOI). The trade groups collectively represent the entirety of the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico. They have joined to push for consideration of the FOIA requests and continue to urge BOEM, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and DOI to be responsive to industry concerns regarding its Notice to Lessees No. 2016-N01, which changed the existing regulations for securing decommissioning liability for the offshore oil and gas industry. (Source: Marine Link 11/07/16)

Gulfport CBs refine training

GULFPORT, Miss. - Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 Seabees completed the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command Integrated Exercise Oct. 24-28 here at the Naval Construction Battalion Center. NIEX is an exercise in the command's advanced phase of readiness training in preparation for upcoming deployments and focusing on command and control of the battalion while supporting units in an operational environment. NMCB 1 established a maritime operations center in an expeditionary environment with operation planning teams and working groups. NMCB 1 is a Seabee battalion specializing in contingency construction, disaster response, and humanitarian assistance. (Source: Navy Expeditionary Combat Command 11/03/16)

Ingalls hosts SECNAV

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries hosted Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, a former governor of the state, at the Ingalls Shipbuilding division Nov. 4. Mabus met with members of Ingalls’ leadership and addressed an audience of shipbuilders during his tour of the facilities. (HII 11/04/16)

Pemex to seek GoM partners

Mexican state-oil producer Pemex will look for tie-ups in the Ayatsil-Tekel-Utsil, and Chicontepec fields, as well as in seven onshore areas next year, according to a published document Nov. 3. Pemex’s 2016-2021 business plan will seek partners to develop six shallow water areas in the northern region of the Gulf of Mexico in 2018. The company will also look to form partnerships to improve operations, or even reconfigure its Tula, Salamanca and Salina Cruz refineries in 2017-18. (Marine Link 11/03/16)

NOLA’s Kelly heads NMRA

The National Marine Representatives Association (NMRA) has elected its 2011-12 officers and board members. One new officer and three new board members are joining the association's leadership group. Chris Kelly of Waters & David Co. in New Orleans is now president. Ken Smaga of ComMar Sales LLC in Land O' Lakes, Fla., is treasurer. Three new NMRA board members were elected to serve 3-year terms and include Rob Gueterman of GSW and Associates in Tampa, Fla., and Paul Perry with JB Dunn Co. in Fort Pierce, Fla. Existing members include Doug Peterson of The Gartner Group in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Source: Marine Link 11/01/16)

New GoM player: M2 Subsea

A newly formed subsea services business based in Texas has secured a private equity investment to acquire a fleet of 32 remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). M² Subsea Limited has attracted investments from a fund advised by Alchemy Special Opportunities, and is now set to become one of the largest independent providers of ROV services globally; and offer customer solutions for inspection, repair, maintenance, decommissioning and light construction. M² Subsea expects to create up to 50 onshore and 100 offshore jobs operating primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, West Africa; and in the Asia Pacific and Middle-Eastern regions by the end of 2017. (Source: Marine Link 11/02/16)

HII agrees to buy Camber Corp.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Nov. 2 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Camber Corp., a Huntsville, Ala.-based government services company. The planned acquisition has been approved by HII’s board of directors and is expected to close in late 2016, subject to certain regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Camber is a provider of sophisticated mission-based and information technology solutions including agile software and network engineering, modeling simulation and training, unmanned systems, systems engineering, and data analytics. (Source: HII 11/02/16)

Ex-MNG boss on HII’s board

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced Nov. 1 that retired Army Maj. Gen. Augustus Leon Collins has been elected to its board of directors. Collins served in the Army and the Mississippi National Guard for more than 35 years, holding numerous command and staff positions. He retired Aug. 31 after serving five years as the Commanding General of both the Mississippi Army and Air National Guard. He currently serves as CEO of MINACT Inc., a Mississippi-based contractor supporting the Labor Department’s Job Corps program in multiple states. (Source: Huntington Ingalls 11/01/16) Gulf Coast Note: HII is America’s largest military shipbuilding company with yards in Pascagoula, Miss., and Newport News, Va.

GC search near Pass Christian

NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard is searching [Nov. 1] for a person in the water near Pass Christian Harbor, Miss. Coast Guard Sector Mobile, Ala., received a report of an African-American male, about 40 years old or older, wearing a white T-shirt, who fell into the water and drifted away from shore. Assets involved in the search include CG Response Boat from Gulfport, Miss.; Mississippi Department of Marine Resources; and Pass Christian Fire and Police departments. Anyone with information is requested to contact Sector Mobile (251) 441-6211. (Source: CG District 11/01/16)

Austal-built LCS suffers new setback

Littoral Combat Ship USS Montgomery (LCS-6) suffered damage Oct. 29 during a transit through the Panama Canal on its way to its new homeport in San Diego. The ship was crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific when it collided with one of the walls of the lock and suffered damage to the hull while under control of the local Panama Canal Pilot. The damage sustained was an 18-inch crack between the port quarter and transom plates about 10 feet above the waterline. It posed no water intrusion or stability risk, according to the ship’s commander. The ship is now on the Pacific side heading to its new homeport. Days after its commissioning, the Mobile, Ala.-based Austal USA-built Montgomery suffered two separate engineering casualties Sept. 13 on its first intended transit of the Panama Canal. (Source: US Naval Institute News 10/31/16)

Miss. River container-on-barge grant

The U.S. Transportation Secretary announced $4.85 million in grants to six Marine Highway projects along the waterways of 17 states and along the Mississippi River. The goal of the Maritime Administration’s Marine Highway Program is to expand the use of U.S. navigable waterways to relieve landside congestion and reduce air emissions by increasing efficiency of surface transportation systems, including an expansion of existing marine operations along the Mississippi River between New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Memphis, Tenn. A grant for $1.75M was awarded to establish a container-on-barge service along the Mississippi River between New Orleans, Minneapolis, Minn., and Chicago, Ill. The new service is designed to collect empty containers in Memphis and transport them to Baton Rouge to meet customer demand for chemical industry exports. The service offers a waterway alternative to reposition empty equipment that would otherwise move via truck or rail. The operation, which will commence with five barges per week, could potentially eliminate about 12,500 truck trips each year. (Source: Marine Link 10/25/16)