Navy accepts LCS 10

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Navy accepted delivery of the future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) during a ceremony, Dec. 23. Gabrielle Giffords is the ninth littoral combat ship (LCS) to be delivered to the Navy and the fifth Independence variant to join the fleet. The Independence variant is noted for its unique trimaran hull, ability to operate at high speeds and large flight deck size. Delivery marks the official transfer of LCS 10 from the shipbuilder, an Austal USA-led team, to the Navy. It is the final milestone prior to commissioning, which is planned for 2017 in Galveston, Texas. Following commissioning, Gabrielle Giffords will be homeported in San Diego with her fellow ships USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Independence (LCS 2), USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), USS Coronado (LCS 4), USS Jackson (LCS 6) and USS Montgomery (LCS 8). (Source: NNS, 12/27/16)

SLB, Transocean GoM pact

The Schlumberger (SLB) company announced on Christmas Day the signing of two 10-year pressure control equipment management service contracts in the Gulf of Mexico on behalf of Transocean (RIG) valued at some $350 million. The first pact calls for SLB to manage Transocean’s Cameron risers in the Gulf of Mexico. The agreement includes storage, maintenance, inspection, repair, recertification and data-driven riser management on the rigs. For the second contract, Schlumberger will provide a comprehensive suite of solutions to maintain and service blowout preventer systems and other pressure control equipment for nine of Transocean’s ultra-deepwater and harsh environment drilling rigs. These programs will assist in the reduction in the total cost of ownership for the offshore equipment and increase time associated with pressure control equipment through integrated technical, operational and commercial solutions. (Source: Marine Link 12/25/16)

Exploration in the GoM

Forty-nine ultra-deepwater field discoveries have been made in the last decade in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Clarksons Research. Offshore exploration and production in the GoM began back in the 1930s. By the end of 1975, a total of 444 shallow water-fields had been discovered in the area - 256 have been brought into production. Gas fields predominated, accounting for 75 percent of the discoveries. Compelled by the need to find new reserves, oil firms active in the GoM began pushing into deeper waters: The first deepwater discovery was in 1976. The average distance to shore of the 129 offshore discoveries in the area since 2007 was 145km, while 93 were in water depths of 500m or more. The focus has also shifted from gas to oil: 58 percent of the 129 finds were oil fields (93 deepwater finds). The GoM has been dubbed one corner of the “Golden Triangle” of deepwater E&P and has accounted for 16 percent and 19 percent of deepwater and ultra-deepwater finds globally since 2007. (Source: Marine Link 12/21/16)

Albert takes helm at VT Halter Marine

Paul J. Albert has been appointed as the President and CEO for VT Halter Marine. Albert, who joined VTHM as Senior VP of Production in 2002, was named COO in 2009. He had served as the Interim President and CEO since July 2016. VT Halter Marine is located out of Pascagoula, Miss. (Source: Marine Logistics Professional 12/19/16)

GoM refineries cashing in

Gulf of Mexico refiners are cashing in on Mexico’s rising fuel demand and shipping record volumes to its neighbor that has failed to expand its refining network to supply a fast-growing economy. The fuel trade could top a million barrels per day (bpd) at times in 2017 as Mexico becomes increasingly dependent on the U.S. for strategic energy supplies and business worth more than $15 billion annually to refiners. The rise in Mexico's fuel imports reflects an economy that, after expanding 27 straight quarters, has been unable to increase its refining output to satisfy its energy demands. It has led to a rapid reversal in energy trade between the two countries. (Source: Marine Link 12/22/16)

48M acre GoM oil & gas lease-sale

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced Dec. 22 that it will offer more than 48 million acres from offshore Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease-sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area. “As one of the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico remains an important component of our domestic energy strategy to create jobs, foster economic opportunities, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil,” said BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper. BOEM will live stream Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 247 on March 22, 2017. (Source: Marine Link 12/22/16)

Direct Asia service from NOLA port

The France-based CMA CGM announced Dec. 23 a new direct weekly container service to Asia from the Port of New Orleans’ Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. Part of the company’s PEX3 service, the inaugural vessel is scheduled to arrive on Jan. 31 for service by terminal operator Ports America. “CMA CGM is proud to be expanding our presence in New Orleans, further showing our commitment to the Gulf (or Mexico) region,” said Marc Bourdon, CMA CGM America LLC President. The new service offers a 26-day transit time from Asia to New Orleans, which positions (NOLA) to grow the recently opened Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal’s service to key markets such as Memphis; Chicago; Detroit; and Toronto, which are serviced daily by CN Railroad. (Source: Marine Link 12/23/16)

CG medevacs crewman in south La.

The Coast Guard medevaced a 46-year-old man from the motor vessel E.R. Calais near Port Sulphur, La., early morning on Dec. 22. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watch standers received a report at 3:25 a.m. that a crew member had sustained a hand injury aboard the vessel. Watch standers launched a Coast Guard Station Venice (La.) response boat crew that arrived at 4:25 a.m. and transferred the man to emergency services in Venice. He was transported to Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans where he was reported in stable condition. (Source: Coast Guard 12/22/16)

CG medevacs cruise passenger

NEW ORLEANS – Coast Guard Station Venice, La., medevaced a 60 year-old woman from a cruise ship some 14 miles south of the Southwest Pass on Dec. 19. Late Sunday, watch-standers at the Eighth Coast Guard District Command Center received a call from the cruise ship Carnival Triumph requesting the medical evacuation of a woman in need of dialysis. CG Sector New Orleans directed the launch of a 45-foot response boat from its Venice base. The boat crew transferred the stabilized passenger to an awaiting emergency medical services’ vehicle at CS Venice about 1:30 a.m. (Source: Coast Guard 12/19/16)

China returns Stennis drone

WASHINGTON – China returned an underwater drone Dec. 20 to the U.S. after seizing the vessel last week. The seizure raised tensions in a relationship that has been tested by President-elect Trump's signals of a tougher policy toward Beijing. The Chinese navy vessel that seized the drone returned it near where it had been taken. It was received by the USS Mustin about 50 miles northwest of Subic Bay, the Philippines, in the South China Sea, according to the Pentagon. China's defense ministry said in a statement that it handed the drone back after "friendly consultations." The U.S. said the drone was being operated by civilian contractors collecting unclassified scientific data in international waters. (Source: Fox News 12/20/16) Gulf Coast Note: The underwater drone was being operated by the Naval Oceanographic Office at Stennis Space Center, Miss., when it was seized Dec. 15.

Contract: HII, $1.46B

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Huntington Ingalls Industries announced Dec. 19 that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula was awarded a $1.46 billion contract for the detail design and construction of the amphibious transport dock ship Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28). “Building LPD 28 allows the entire LPD industrial base to maintain a hot production line so that our sailors and Marines receive quality amphibious warships as efficiently and affordably as possible,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. Ingalls has built and delivered 10 ships in the San Antonio class of amphibious warships. The 11th, Portland (LPD 27), launched last year and is scheduled for sea trials in mid-2017. (Source HII 12/19/16)

Ingalls delivers cutter Munro

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula delivered the National Security Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) to the Coast Guard on Dec. 16. Munro is scheduled to sail away in February and is to be commissioned in Seattle, Wash., on April 1, 2017. (Source: HII 12/16/16)

Group to study oil spill effects

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced Dec. 15 it has awarded $2.1 million in grants. A team led by University of South Florida College of Marine Science professor Dr. Steven Murawski was provided a $1 million grant to explore how oil spills- like Deepwater Horizon (DWH) in 2010 - impact the economic, ecological and social system aspects of fishing communities. The team includes University of Miami bio-physical modeler Dr. Claire Paris and environmental science and policy expert Dr. James Sanchirico from the University of California at Davis. DWH released some two million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico resulting in significant impacts on coastal communities of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. Murawski’s team will be using high-resolution, fishery-dependent data sets to identify how communities were affected by the DWH spill. Working with key fisheries stakeholders and local decision-makers, the team plans to identify adaptive strategies for communities to mitigate the effects of future spills. The project has the potential to transform disaster planning and fisheries management responses to such disasters in the Gulf of Mexico. (Source: Marine Link 12/15/16)

China seizes SSC drone

An underwater drone operated by the Naval Oceanographic Office at Stennis Space Center, Miss., was seized Dec. 15 by China in the South China Sea. The Department of Defense has called upon China to immediately return the unmanned underwater vehicle that was collecting military oceanographic data such as salinity and water temperature. The unclassified ocean glider was being retrieved by the survey ship USNS Bowditch (T-AGS 62) when it was seized by the Chinese ship about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay, Philippines. The gliders are piloted by civilian workers at the oceanographic office at Stennis Space Center. The office has more than 130 such UUVs. (Source: GCRL, 12/16/16) Pentagon statement

Contract: HII, $51M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $51,047,637 cost-plus-fixed fee modification to previously awarded contract N0024-16-C-2415 to exercise option year one for life cycle engineering and support (LCE&S) services for the LPD 17 class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Program. The services include post-delivery planning and engineering, homeport technical support, class integrated product data environment, data maintenance and equipment management, systems integration and engineering support, LPD 17 class design services, research engineering, obsolescence management, class material readiness, emergent repair provision, training and logistics support, ship alteration development and installation, material management, operating cycle integration, availability planning, and configuration data management. Work will be performed in Pascagoula (96 percent); Norfolk, Va. (1 percent); San Diego, Calif. (1 percent); Mayport, Fla. (1 percent); and Sasebo, Japan (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2017. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/15/16)

Contract: Austal, $7.8M

Austal USA LLC, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $7,800,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-11-C-2301) to exercise options for core Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class services and LCS class services for the LCS program. Austal USA will assess engineering and production challenges and evaluate the cost and schedule risks from affordability efforts to reduce LCS acquisition costs. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Mass. (60 percent); and Mobile (40 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2017. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/15/16)

BP to proceed with GoM project

BP has agreed to proceed with a $9 billion oil project in the Gulf of Mexico some 100 miles from Grand Isle, La., amid low crude prices that have sparked thousands of layoffs in the region. "This announcement shows that big deep water projects can still be economic in a low price environment in the U.S. if they are designed in a smart and cost-effective way," Bob Dudley, BP Group chief executive, said in a news release. The second phase of the company's Mad Dog project will include a second floating production platform on the Gulf floor in water some 4,500 feet deep, the company said. Oil production is expected to begin in late 2021. (Source: Houma Courier 12/02/16)

Raytheon-Forest partial pact

Raytheon Co., Goleta, Calif., is being awarded a $101,967,288 performance-based logistics, firm-fixed-price requirements contract for repair support of 10 weapon replaceable assemblies for the AN/ALR-67(V)3 for F/A-18 A/B/C/D/E/F aircraft. The contractor is also responsible for managing technical and configuration changes, and obsolescence. This is a four-year base period contract with a one one-year option period, which if exercised, brings the total estimated value to $128,175,612. Work will be performed in Goleta (44.9%); Jacksonville, Fla. (13.3); Port Mugu, Calif. (8.7); Lansdale, Pa. (8.6); Forest, Miss. (7); Tucson, Ariz. (7); Chatsworth, Calif. (5.2); San Diego (3.5); and Hudson, N.H. (1.8). Work is expected to be completed by December 2020. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (N00383-17-D-A001). (Source: DoD, 12/09/16)

BR, NOLA ports: $1.75M grant

U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator Paul “Chip” Jaenichen visited the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, La.’s container-on-barge operation Dec. 6 and congratulated the state for earning a $1.75 million grant for both the PGBR and Port of New Orleans. The grant is for acquiring specialized container loading equipment to increase efficiencies to the current container-on-barge shuttle service operated by SEACOR AMH between the two Mississippi River cities. The shuttle service fulfills a market need by repositioning empty containers from Memphis to Baton Rouge for the increasing volume of resin exports from the Baton Rouge area. According to a DOT study, there is a savings to Louisiana of $118 per round-trip between New Orleans and Baton Rouge if moved by barge rather than overland. (Source: Marine Logistics Professional 12/07/16) Gulf Coast Note: SEACOR AMH is part of SEACOR Holding’s Inland River Services group, which owns covered and open hopper barges, tank barges, and inland river towboats; and provides ancillary services along U.S. Inland River Waterways. SEACOR AMH’s corporate offices are in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and with offices in Mobile, Ala.

Gulfstream earns DHS contract

Gulfstream Shipbuilding of Freeport, Fla., won a contract through the Department of Homeland Security for a custom aluminum passenger-vehicle ferry to service the New York and Connecticut waters. The 118-foot crew boat-style vessel will be capable of transporting passengers, freight and vehicles in and around the waters of the Eastern Long Island Sound and Gardiner’s Bay. The vessel has an expected delivery date of April 2017. (Source: Marine Link 12/08/16) Gulf Coast Note: Gulfstream Shipbuilding, located north of Destin, has built a variety of vessels, including Coast Guard-approved passenger vessels, oil field support vessels, mega yachts, and casino vessels that range from 60- to 300-feet long.

Contract: Raytheon, $34.3M

Raytheon Co. Integrated Defense Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $34,259,681 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-15-C-2414 to exercise option year two for life cycle engineering and support (LCE&S) services for LPD 17 class integrated shipboard electronic systems. The services to be provided will include LCE&S services including post-delivery planning, logistics and engineering, homeport technical support, integrated product data environment, data maintenance, equipment management, systems integration and design engineering, software support, research engineering, obsolescence management (both technical and logistics), material readiness support, emergent repair planning, training and logistics support; planning yard support of integrated electronic systems including Fleet Modernization Program planning, ship alteration development and installation, material management, configuration data management, research engineering, logistics documentation, and other logistics and executing activity coordination, management; and sustaining engineering and obsolescence management support for unique LPD 17 class integrated shipboard electronic systems. Work will be performed in San Diego (88 percent); Norfolk, Va. (7 percent); Sasebo, Japan (3 percent); Mayport, Fla. (1 percent); Pascagoula, Miss. (1 percent); and is expected to be completed by December 2017. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/09/16)

Boiling point over Navy ship cuts

The Navy is rejecting $17 billion in ordered cuts from its FY 2018 budget. The infighting between the Defense and Navy secretaries is at a boiling point. The Navy has refused to submit a budget that incorporates the cuts over the next five years that SECDEF Ash Carter ordered last December. The standoff has been brewing for months since Carter ordered the Navy to begin cutting shipbuilding programs – such as the Littoral Combat Ship - and investing in weapons systems and aircraft. SECNAV Ray Mabus insists cuts to shipbuilding are the "least reversible" thing because of the long timelines to build, and damage to the industrial bases. Mabus insists it would be foolish to send over a budget with ship cuts when President-elect Trump has gone on record wanting to grow the fleet. SECDEF's office is preparing another letter for the Navy soon that outline his priorities. In December 2015, Carter directed the Navy to cut the overall buy of LCS from 52 to 40 and to pick one variant and builder – Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., or Lockheed Martin of Wisconsin. The deadline for submitting budgets to OSD is Dec. 8. (Source: Navy Times 12/07/16)

Harvey Gulf: Long-term thinkers

In an interview three years ago, Harvey Gulf has said it was committed to a long term policy it claims would sustain the firm in the best, and worst, of times. Owner Shane Guidry was asked in 2016 how hat panned out. As it turns out, Harvey Gulf has seen its share of the pain plaguing the entire sector. With its headcount down some 500 personnel, Harvey Gulf’s fleet of 59 vessels still has 34 on the water. True to its formula, 26 of the 34 are operating on time charters. That’s the way it will stay, he said. “We’re long-term thinkers and fortunately we don’t live for today and we don’t live to sell stock.” Last quarter, its EBITDA was more than Seacor, Tidewater, GulfMark, and Hornbeck combined. Returns were over 60 percent. That’s from understanding clients’ needs, and “getting down in the weeds” with crew members, and working with them to “understand what’s coming next, how we all survive together, in your personal lives and in the business,” insists Guidry. He is projecting the firm’s EBITDA will be over $160 million this year. Facing a much different landscape, he maintains that, aside from the necessary belt tightening, little has changed in terms of how the firm operates. Pressed to explain, Guidry responded: “You have to decide: do you want to live for today or tomorrow?” (Source: Marine Link 12/06/16) Gulf Coast Note: Harvey Gulf International Marine is a marine transportation company specializing in providing Offshore Supply and Multi-Purpose Support Vessels for deep water operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Its HQ is in New Orleans; and has an operations facility at Port Fourchon, La.

HII turns over Finn to Navy

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division delivered the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyer John Finn (DDG 113) to the Navy on the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The ship’s namesake helped shoot down Japanese warplanes during the attack, and was the first Medal of Honor recipient of WWII. The signing of turnover documents to the Navy took place at 7:38 a.m., the time of the attack on Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. Ingalls has delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy. Other destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls include 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 2017. (HII 12/07/16)

ZF Marine grows La. presence

ZF Marine, the marine business unit of the global German-based ZF Group, has secured a new location for its Gulf of Mexico/Inland Waterway sales and service operations. The company opened its wholly owned location in the greater New Orleans area at St. Rose, La., in late 1996, the first satellite location outside of ZF’s North American marine HQ. Twenty years later, ZF Marine is moving to Elmwood, La., a short drive from its current location, and at almost triple the size. The firm will establish a new role as ZF Marine’s North American commercial and fast craft center of competence. The facility will be able to support repair and overhaul activities, localized spare parts, and warehousing. The Elmwood location is planned to open in the second quarter of 2017. (Source: Marine Link 12/05/16)

Russia drops joint GoM development

Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft and ExxonMobil have decided not to proceed with a joint development of oil blocks in the Gulf of Mexico due to "lack of prospects", Interfax news agency reported Dec.2. In 2011, both firms signed an agreement, which included offering Rosneft equity interests in Exxon exploration projects in North American, including deep water Gulf of Mexico and fields in Texas. (Source: Marine Link 12/05/16)