Swiftships contract: $18M

Swiftships LLC of Morgan City, La., is being awarded an $18,053,376 fixed-price incentive contract for the detail design and construction of the Landing Craft, Utility (LCU) 1700. Swiftships is contracted to deliver LCU 1700 detail design and construction of one craft (including data license rights) about 31 months after this contract award, with options for the construction of up to 31 LCU with the latest delivery date, if all options are exercised, in 2027. This solicitation also includes options for product support, technical manuals; up to 10,000 hours of special studies services; a technical data package; and orders for interim support, engineering and industrial services, training, and shipping. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $429,422,280 based on a most likely option exercise scenario and exclusive of any orders. The base work will be performed in Morgan City, La. (83%); Houston (15%); and Virginia Beach, Va. (2%), and is expected to be completed by July 2020. FY 2016 Navy shipbuilding and conversion funding in the amount of $18,053,376 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with five offers received. Naval Sea Systems Command of Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD 03/30/18)

Weeks Marine contract: $12.4M

Weeks Marine of Covington, La., was awarded a $12,431,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Mississippi River Southwest Pass maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the Internet with one received. Work will be performed in Covington with an estimated completion date of Sept. 17, 2018. FY 2018 Army operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $12,431,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of New Orleans is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD 03/30/18)

Ex-HII official earns corporate VP gig

Huntington Ingalls Industries has promoted Christie Thomas to VP of contracts and pricing at its Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding Division. She will succeed Tom Johnston, who retires April 1. Thomas will have overall responsibility for contracts, pricing, and export/import licensing and compliance for the shipyard. Thomas joined HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding Division in Pascagoula, Miss., in 2006. She held director-level positions in supply chain management, business management, business development, and contracts and pricing. (Source: Marine Link 03/30/18)

Bollinger delivers WPC-1118 to CG

The Coast Guard took delivery of the USCGC Nathan Bruckenthal (WPC-1118), built by the Lockport, La.-based Bollinger Shipyards, and delivered to Key West, Fla. The 154-foot patrol craft is the 28th vessel in the CG's Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) program. Bollinger used a proven in-service parent craft design, based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708, to build the FRC. (Source: Houma Courier 03/329/18)

VA nominee served with PC dive unit

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is out, and President Trump has nominated his personal physician, Navy admiral Ronny Jackson, to succeed Shulkin. Jackson is an active duty physician first hired by President Barack Obama in 2013 and retained by Trump. Jackson began his naval career at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Va., in 1995, where he completed an internship and went on to graduate with honors at the Navy’s Undersea Medical Officer Program. With a focus on undersea medicine, Jackson practiced at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Fla., with an explosives unit in Italy, and a diving safety unit in Norfolk, Va., before returning to NMC Portsmouth to focus on emergency medicine. He also deployed to Iraq to work with a Surgical Shock Trauma Platoon. Robert Wilkie will serve as Acting VA Secretary until Dr. Jackson retires from naval service. (Source: Newsweek 03/28/18)

Eglin tests may affect GPS service

EGLIN AFB, Fla. - Ground-based navigation tools and electronic devices or Smartphone apps that rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology may be affected during Eglin Air Force Base testing and evaluation April 1-6 in the Gulf of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay, according a base notice. People living or visiting near Eglin AFB in NW Florida will likely notice increased aircraft noise between 8 a.m. and 12 Noon during the evaluation by the base’s 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. GPS will resume after testing is completed each day some 20 nautical miles south of Destin in the GoM. Testing will be conducted within a cleared-safety area, which includes boat surveillance. Notices to mariners will be issued before the missions and fliers will be handed out at the local marina. (Source: NW Florida Daily News 03/28/18) These periodic testing and evaluations occur multiple times each year.

New St. Louis, Plaquemines MOU

St. Louis (Mo.) Regional Freightway, Plaquemines (La.) Port Harbor & Terminal District, and four ports in the St. Louis area have entered into an agreement to establish an alliance to promote international and inland trade routes at strategic locations along the Mississippi River. The five-year agreement calls for joint marketing and the exchange of data to reach those goals. The agreement embodies the St. Louis region’s strong support for underway efforts by marine transportation services leader American Patriot Holdings and the Port of Plaquemines to develop a transportation system hub for container transport vessel shipments from Plaquemines, at the mouth of the Mississippi River south of New Orleans, to the St. Louis region. Initial discussions have focused on loading operations at a centralized location in Jefferson County, Mo., with feeder services by rail, barge and truck throughout the bi-state region and Mississippi River Basin resulting in low costs and efficient transportation. (Source: Marine Link 03/28/18)

New offshore permitting process

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced March 26 that it had implemented a new quality assurance process for reviewing and assessing its permitting systems for offshore energy operations. The new directive, issued by BSEE’s Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs, requires the agency to conduct periodic review and assessment of permitting processes for consistency, timeliness and efficiency across the various districts and regions within the agency. (Source: Work Boat 03/27/18)

GCBC rejects House BP plan

GCBC rejects legislature’s BP plan GULFPORT, Miss. – Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Business Council rejected the Legislature’s third attempt to pass a bill (HB 1185) to determine who gets what parts of the $700M in BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill restoration monies. About 66 percent of GCBC opinion poll voters didn’t like the House’s version of the bill to give 35 percent of the BP monies to non-coastal Mississippi communities, and 65 percent to the coast. The legislature kicked the ball down the road because 2019 is an election year, and members decided to try again next year rather than to ask Gov. Phil Bryant to call a special session. (Source: Sun Herald 03/27/18)

Making 'progress' on GC port contract

The labor union representing dockworkers on the East /Gulf coasts and a ports’ association group have made "significant progress" related to terms for a six-year extension of a current master contract, according to a joint statement released March 23. About 50 negotiators from the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) labor union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) spent March 21-22 discussing updates to the current master contract, which is set to expire Sept. 30, 2018. According to that statement, USMX aims "to present a complete contract package to the full ILA Wage Scale Delegates sometime in the near future and then schedule a ratification vote …” ILA officers from all major ports on the Atlantic/Gulf coasts were represented on the union’s negotiating committee, while USMX’s bargaining committee included representatives from ocean carriers, terminal operators and port associations. (Source: American Shipper 03/25/18)

Red flag barge leaking near NOLA

NEW ORLEANS - The Coast Guard and local agencies responded March 25 to a barge leaking biodiesel near mile marker 93 on the lower Mississippi River near New Orleans. CG Sector New Orleans got a report at 6 a.m. of an uninspected towing vessel Dixie Express with two loaded red flag barges moored at industrial locks when an underway vessel reportedly caused a wake that resulted in the breakaway of one of the barges. The barge struck a concrete wharf wall resulting in a hole in the barge that has discharged an estimated 9,700 gallons of biodiesel. The maximum potential is 21,150 gallons. OMI has deployed booms and absorbent pads to mitigate the spread of oil. The leak is reportedly stopped. No injuries were reported and no waterway restrictions have been issued. (Coast Guard 03/25/18)

Avondale would-be owner ID’d

Avondale (La.) Shipyard would be turned into a privately owned multi-modal shipping terminal under a joint venture identified March 22 at a Port of New Orleans board meeting, according to New Orleans City Business. The would-be owner was identified as HRE New Orleans, which is a joint venture of T. Parker Host Inc. of Norfolk, Va., and Hilco Global of Northbrook, Ill. The Dock Board passed a resolution supporting the venture's redevelopment of the former shipyard. NOLA port President Brandy Christian said it is "very close" to completing a cooperative endeavor agreement with HRE. The potential purchase price was not disclosed. (Source: NOLA.com 03/22/18)

Friedman to lead AAPA

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) - the recognized voice of ports in the Americas - elected William D. Friedman, president/CEO for Northeast Ohio’s Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, to serve as the association’s chairman for 2018-19, beginning in October. Friedman is scheduled to be installed as chairman, for one-year, on the final day of AAPA’s Oct. 7-10 annual convention in Chile. He will assume the chairmanship from Steve Cernak, CEO/port director for Broward County, Fla.’s Port Everglades. Friedman has worked in port authority management for about two decades. (Source: Marine Link 03/23/18)

Cautious responses to GoM lease-sale

The largest federal government-sponsored Gulf of Mexico offshore lease offerings in history (77M acres) drew cautious responses from industry March 22 with $124.7M in winning bids for 815,403 acres. Thirty-three companies participated, including Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and Total SA. During the last GoM lease sale in August 2017, 30 companies took 508,096 acres. The 2018 lease-sale brought an average of $153 per acre, well below previous averages. It’s been a long fall from the boom years of March 2012 when 80 companies bid a combined $352M in two federal lease sales, when there was much interest in shallow-water leases. Recognizing the tough economic conditions facing shallow water operators today, the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) set a 12.5 percent royalty rate for leases in 656 feet or less, down from 18.75 percent. A day before the New Orleans-based sale, National Ocean Industries Association President Randall Luthi sounded optimistic, but stressed that companies are looking globally for their next opportunities. The “United States must continue to evaluate how to keep the Gulf of Mexico and other parts of the U.S. outer continental shelf attractive in light of competition from Brazil and Mexico.” Lease Sale 250 was the second offshore sale held under the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-22. The plan has scheduled 10 region-wide lease sales for the GoM - two per year, including all available blocks in the combined western, central, and eastern GoM planning areas. (Source: Work Boat 03/22/18)

UPDATE: Prez signs gov’t funding bill

The U.S. Senate finalized funding March 22 for the government through the end of September. However, in March 23 tweets, President Trump made an unexpected threat to veto the newly passed $1.3T spending measure, which could mean, if he follows through, cause a third federal government shutdown this year. The deadline for his signature is midnight Friday. But, within that overall federal budget, Congress gave support for Navy shipbuilding in the FY 2018 omnibus budget deal adding $3.3B for five additional ships to support growth for the fleet, and industrial base. The spending bill sets aside $23.8B for the Navy to buy 14 ships – five more than the service requested in its original $20.4B request. The additions include three Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). It also increases funding to start what is likely to be the first-in-class next-generation LX(R) amphibious warship, and a Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport. Highlights significant to the Gulf Coast include: $1.80B for the first next-generation LX(R) amphibious warship; $1.71B for the amphibious assault ship Bougainville (LHA-8) – both to be built at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss; $1.56B for three LCS – but didn’t indicate which of the two LCS builders – Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., or Lockheed Martin shipyard in Wisconsin - would get the contract(s); and $225M for an Expeditionary Fast Transport, which are built by Austal USA. For Navy aviation, $10.2B for 24 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters across the Air Force (10), Marines (4) and Navy (10); and $84M for six Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout Unmanned Aerials Vehicles. (Source: USNI 03/22/18) (Source: USNI News 03/22/18) UPDATE: President Trump signs government funding bill later in the day on March 23.

Weather forecasting contract for GC

Atmospheric Science Technology LLC of Norman, Okla., is being awarded a $7,096,760 firm-fixed-price contract, resulting from solicitation N00189-18-R-0004 that will provide weather observing and forecasting services as required by the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command headquarters at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The contract will include a 12-month base period, which includes a contingency option valued at $17,838, four one-year options, and an option for an additional six-month period should it be deemed necessary pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 with a total value, inclusive of all options, of $39,256.700. Work will be performed at 20 locations, including New Orleans (4.30%); Pensacola, Fla. (4.24%); both North (3.60%) and South fields (3.62%) of Whiting Field, Fla. and Meridian, Miss. (3.02%). The contract period of performance will begin September 2018. Work is expected to be completed by September 2019; if all options are exercised, work will continue through February 2024. FY 2018 Navy operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,859,673 will be obligated at time of award and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via a solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website as an 8(a) small business set-aside requirement, with three offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD 03/22/18)

Folan on Subchapter M compliance

Pat Folan, a partner at Tug & Barge Solutions, weighs in on all things tugboat – with a focus on Subchapter M. Folan is a partner at the Daphne, Ala.-based Tug & Barge Solutions, a company that focuses on Subchapter M compliance for towing companies. (Source: Marine Link 03/22/18)

House OKs funding, heads to Senate

WASHINGTON – U.S. House leadership reached an agreement March 21 on a spending bill that would fund the government until the end of September. On March 22, the full House approved the $1.3T spending bill on a 256-167 vote, and sending the measure to the Senate for approval in an attempt to avert a government shutdown. The agreement would end negotiations that leave little time for the Senate to pass the measure before current funding expires after midnight Saturday, March 24. The bill would lift spending for the military and a wide range of domestic programs that would deliver political points for both parties. The bill would implement the first part of the two-year budget deal passed last month, the third agreement lawmakers have struck to get around spending curbs passed in 2011. Lawmakers will now have only two days to consider and pass the 2,232-page bill before government funding expires at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. After passage, the bill still must go to the Senate for a vote. (Source: Wall Street Journal 03/22/18) Gulf Coast Note: The spending bill would fund 14 new ships, give the Navy more than $3B more than it requested. A draft of the Omnibus spending bill showed the Navy was in line to get $23.8B for shipbuilding. The budget buys, among other things, include three Littoral Combat Ships, and an LX(R) amphibious ship. The measure also included 24 F/A-18 Super Hornets – 10 more than requested – and six MQ-8C Fire Scouts. An extra $600M for five MC-130Js for Air Force Special Operations for an overall procurement of 10 aircraft. The service would also get one additional HC-130J, for a total of three. Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., builds one of the two LCS variants; HII-Pascagoula, Miss., builds “amphibs”; and Hurlburt Field, Fla., is home to the Air Force special operations command.

Coastal La. tribe to relocate en masse

The Louisiana Office of Community Development reached an agreement March 20 to buy a 515-acre tract in south Terrebonne Parish, near Schriever, for $11.7M to relocate some 80 residents – mostly members of a Native American tribe - from the rapidly-sinking Isle de Jean Charles community. The acreage is owned by Acadia Agricultural Holdings, but is known as the Evergreen property. It had been valued at $19.1M, and sits some nine feet above sea level. The property is 20-plus miles south of Houma. The purchase is to be funded with money from a $48.3M grant from the National Disaster Resilience Competition. The mostly Native American Isle de Jean Charles community has lost 98 percent of it land since 1955, the result of a combination of subsidence, erosion and sea level rise. It is the first community in the nation to receive federal assistance to retreat from the effects of climate change. (Source: NOLA.com 03/20/18)

La. marine lab at ‘ground zero’

Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, which sits on a spit of coastal land in south Terrebonne Parish where researchers study problems related to coastal Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, and ocean ecosystems. Because of its location outside the levee system, the marine lab has become ground zero for the very issues it is tasked with studying. The lab’s location is becoming more valuable each passing day with Louisiana losing more coastal wetlands than all other American states combined. The issues facing coastal Louisiana drive much of the research. “A lot of people now are starting to utilize us because we are sort of ground zero,” McClain said. “We have a front row seat to coastal loss and coastal change.” (Source: NOLA.com 03/21/18)

Marine manufacturer comes to Ala.

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. - Baldwin County has landed another manufacturer from outside the U.S. Canada-based AdvanTec Marine will be setting up shop in the Robertsdale Industrial Park. AdvanTec manufactures closures and fittings for yachts and ships. It will be their first facility outside of Canada and the northeast U.S. The company plans to hire 46 workers. The company’s product lines include hatches, doors, fittings and specialty steel components. Much of their business is with yacht manufacturers in south Florida. (Source: WALA 03/20/18)

Rewards ahead for GC refineries

The world’s most sophisticated refineries – especially those on the U.S. Gulf Coast, Europe and Asia - are about to become more lucrative thanks to a tweak in rules for the type of fuel ships consume. Beginning in 2020, ships have to start buying fuel with less sulfur, or refitted with equipment to curb pollutants. Only a small fraction of the fleet will have such gear when the rules go into effect. It’ll be a major boon for complex plants, including some of the biggest on the Gulf Coast. These refineries can already make marine gasoil - a distillate fuel the fleet will have to have without churning out leftover, non-compliant fuel oil, according to Alan Gelder, VP for refining, chemicals, and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. in London. “They’ll print money,” he told Bloomberg. “If the shipping industry needs more clean fuels, then that’s good for refining.” The new sulfur standards, established by the International Maritime Organization in 2016, aim to cut the presence of a pollutant that has been blamed as a contributor to health conditions like asthma, and environmental damage. Some shippers claim that in an extreme scenario, the changes could upend world trade if the cost of compliance is too high. The existing global standard is generally 3.5 percent sulfur in fuel oil. The new IMO rules establish a 0.5 percent limit. Plants with more flexibility of the types of crude they process - many of the Gulf Coast will be among the top beneficiaries. More than 80 percent of Gulf Coast refineries have coking units that can create transport fuels from the residual fuel oil from heavy crude, according to research from Morningstar Inc. (Source: Bloomberg 03/21/18)

Surprise rig inspections in GoM

The U.S. Department of Interior sent more than 50 inspectors to conduct surprise safety inspections on some 40 Gulf of Mexico (GoM) platforms and drilling rigs, according to Jason Mathews, head of offshore safety management for the department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The results were still being compiled March 16, but inspectors found some serious problems, including potentially life-threatening ones. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke discussed plans for the inspection earlier in March after the safety bureau issued an alert to offshore O&G operators in the Gulf of Mexico. (Source: NY Times 03/18/18)

Port of PC presents Triumph project

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - The Port of Panama City’s expansion could be among the first projects funded under the Triumph Gulf Coast program that funding comes from a 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement. The $110M PPC project – to expand its East Terminal - was one of 116 applicants vying for the first round of funding. At a March 16 meeting in Milton, the Triumph board authorized legal counsel to bring a term sheet agreement with PPC for a vote at the board’s next meeting, which may be a sign toward awarding a formal contract. Eight NW Florida counties are slated to receive $1.2B from the Triumph program through 2033. Initial applicants are competing for the first $300M already available. South Florida maritime economists with Martin and Associates determined that the first phase of the East Terminal expansion would create 111 direct jobs and 225 indirect jobs. The port’s on average annual pay is $48,892. Rick Harper, a former University of West Florida economics professor hired by Triumph to analyze applications, told the board that cost per job of the port project is higher than other Gulf Coast state projects. “In some ways it is a very, very good project because it serves a broad number of potential businesses,” he said. “It opens up the local economy for additional sorts of businesses, the ones that rely on ocean shipping.” (Source: NW Florida Daily News 03/19/18)

Marine casualty report changes

The Coast Guard has raised the limit on damages that triggers a marine casualty report to keep pace with inflation, and eliminates chronicling and investigating relatively minor mishaps. The new property damage threshold is $75,000 - up from $25,000. The limit for a serious marine incident, which requires mandatory drug/alcohol testing, is $200,000 – up from $100,000. The final rule was published March 19 in the Federal Register. The rule will become effective April 18. (Source: Work Boat 03/19/18)

FY-19 DoD markup expected in May

The U.S. House Armed Services Committee is expecting to mark up its FY 2019 Defense Authorization bill around May 9, which may set up a floor vote later that month, according to congressional sources. With the two-year budget deal reached in February, the defense spending cap will rise to $647B. Total discretionary spending, after overseas operations account is included, will likely rise to $716B. A spokesman for the HASC declined to confirm, to the Congressional Quarterly, its schedule for considering the bill. (Source: Defense Communities 03/19/18)

HII cruiser contract: $9.9M

Huntington Ingalls Industries of Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $9,999,010 cost-plus-award fee contract modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-12-C-4323) to provide level of effort funding for CG modernization program design services. The contract is for planning yard services for CG-47 class cruisers. HII-Pascagoula provides necessary engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data, and logistics efforts for CG-47 class cruisers for lifetime support of both maintenance and modernization. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, and is expected to be completed by September 2018. FY 2018 Navy operations and maintenance funding in the amount of $9,999,010 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Gulf Coast of Pascagoula is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD 03/16/18)

Houma shipyard: $63.5M pact

Gulf Island Shipyards LLC of Houma, La., is being awarded a $63,560,942 firm-fixed-price and fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract for the detail design and construction of the Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship (T-ATS). This contract includes options for seven additional vessels which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $522,701,092. Work will be performed in Houma (92%); Hampton, Va. (5%); Stord, Norway (2%); and New Orleans (1%), and is expected to be completed by September 2020. FY 2016 Navy shipbuilding and conversion funding in the amount of $63,560,942 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with five offers received. Naval Sea Systems Command of Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD 03/16/18)

Living sensors may detect O&G leaks

There are more than 212,000 miles of oil and gas (O&G) pipelines that crisscross America, and thousands of more miles of pipeline across the Gulf of Mexico and ocean floors. They transport some 16 billion barrels of crude oil, refined petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas annually. Monitoring for leaks is a monumental task because pipes can crack, and the results result in costly fixes for businesses and environment. Researchers at Mississippi State University, led by environmental engineer Dr. Veera Gnaneswar Gude, are working to develop bacteria-based sensors that attach to those pipes. These “living sensors” would detect hydrocarbons released by a leak and emit a wireless alert signal monitoring technicians. A larger version of the sensor could be deployed to help cleanup efforts. MSU’s new sensor works like a battery based on microorganisms that live in marine waters and sediments. Chris Reddy, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, told Inside Science that he thought the idea of using bacteria in a sensor that attaches to the outside of a pipe was clever, but cautioned that bacteria sometime stop eating hydrocarbons. That could make it difficult to fully rely on bacteria to do a particular job. Gude presented the research at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans. From 1998-2017, there have been more than 11,700 oil-and-gas pipeline accidents across the U.S. that have cost the industry more than $7 billion, and resulted 1,296 injuries and 334 deaths, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. (Source: Inside Science 03/18/18)

Mine warfare contract

Alion Science and Technology Corp. of McLean, Va., is being awarded a $13,549,993 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for development, integration, testing and evaluation of prototype systems for existing or emerging unmanned vehicles, unmanned weapons and unmanned weapons control systems related to mine warfare, amphibious warfare, surface warfare, diving and life support, coastal and underwater intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and other missions in the littoral and riverine environments. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $72,974,234. Work performance locations will be determined with each order and will be completed by March 2023. FY 2018 Navy working capital funding in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity (N61331-18-D-0007). (Source: DoD, 03/15/18)

GA to expand Miss. facility

General Atomics' Electromagnetic Systems will invest $20M to expand for the 10th time in 13 years at its Shannon, Miss., facility. The project is expected to create 48 jobs over the next three years. The project includes a 128,000-square-foot addition to an existing facility, which will house manufacturing operations for complex, lightweight, compact and powerful laser systems and expanded fabrication facilities. The expansion supports increased demands for airborne, maritime, and land military lasers. The Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance to help with equipment costs. Lee County will provide property tax exemptions. (Source: Area Development 03/15/18)

LCS 16 completes acceptance trials

MOBILE, Ala. - Littoral Combat Ship USS Tulsa (LCS 16) successfully completed acceptance trials March 9 after a series of in-port and underway demonstrations in the Gulf of Mexico for the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. Acceptance trials are the final major milestone before delivery of the ship to the Navy. The ship was built at Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile. Its performance demonstrated an incorporation of lessons learned and continual ship-over-ship improvements, according to Capt. Mike Taylor, LCS program manager. "Tulsa is well on track to provide needed LCS war-fighting capability to the fleet and the nation,” he stated. While underway, Tulsa successfully demonstrated bow thruster, twin boom extensible crane operations with the rigid-hull inflatable boat; completed surface and air self-defense detect-to-engage exercises; and ship-handling and maneuverability through high-speed steering and operation of its anchor. Tulsa will be commissioned into service following delivery, an Austal post-delivery availability, and a post-delivery availability that is focused on crew training, certifications and familiarization exercises in Mobile. The ship is to be home-ported in San Diego with sister Austal-built ships USS Independence (LCS 2), USS Coronado (LCS 4), USS Jackson (LCS 6), USS Montgomery (LCS 8), USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), USS Omaha (LCS 12), and the future USS Manchester (LCS 14), which was delivered Feb. 28 and will be commissioned May 26 in New Hampshire. Additional LCS are under construction at Austal: Charleston (LCS 18), Cincinnati (LCS 20), Kansas City (LCS 22), Oakland (LCS 24) and Mobile (LCS 26). In addition, contracts for Savannah (LCS 28) and LCS 30 were awarded to Austal in 2017. (Source: Naval Sea Systems Command 03/15/18)

LCS 4 completes DT of mine module

SAN DIEGO - The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Modules program successfully completed Developmental Testing (DT) of the Coastal Mine Reconnaissance (CMR) mission module aboard USS Coronado (LCS 4) off the coast of Southern California, according to a March 15 release from Naval Sea Systems Command. The DT consisted of the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle with its Mission Control System, an N/DVS-1 Coastal Battlespace Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) system with airborne payload sub-system, and the post-mission analysis sub-system that supports software and support containers. COBRA is integrated on the Fire Scout, and provides daytime detection of surface-laid mines, mine fields, and obstacles in the beach zone. Mission analysis is performed upon completion of the flight. The purpose of the DT was to exercise the system in realistic environmental conditions using the assigned crew and aviation detachment to verify that the system is ready for operational testing. (Source: Naval Sea Systems Command 03/15/18) Gulf Coast Note: USS Coronado was built at Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Ala.

CBO offers 355-ship fleet scenarios

Two of four shipbuilding scenarios detailed in a report released March 14 by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would create a 355-ship Navy by 2037, but FY 2018 Navy spending requests only maintains the status quo of the current 282-ship fleet. Starting in FY-18, and continuing for five years, the Navy’s FY-19 requests average $20.8B annually for shipbuilding that won’t pay for maintaining the status quo or pay for increasing the size of the fleet, according to CBO’s numbers crunching. The report offers four scenarios over three decades toward reaching 355 ships, which would require buying 330 new ships for 20 years and spending up to $104B to maintain this fleet through 2047. The president’s budget requests $20B to shipbuilding, and proposes to build 10 ships. “We must get to 13 ships and increase the budget accordingly,” said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chair of the House Armed Services’ seapower and projection forces subcommittee. CBO’s report suggests a funding level of $26B annually to hit the “sweet spot” of a 355-ship Navy, he added. The report requires the Navy to add between 12 and 13 ships a year, and spending on average $26.7B per year for shipbuilding. Opting for a smaller fleet would reduce the nation’s shipbuilding capacity and require slightly more than five ship-builds a year - less than one per seven shipyards, which may not be enough business to keep all seven shipyards yards open, the report states. (Source: USNI News 03/15/18)

MS international security summit

BILOXI, Miss. – The State of Mississippi hosted an International Homeland Defense and Security Summit March 13 in this Gulf Coast city with an Air Force base and shipyard. Among attendees was the U.S. Coast Guard’s commandant; a general from India; and representatives from Taiwan and South Korea, but it appears Israel was a major player. Sixteen Israeli companies attended the summit, along with a delegation from Israel’s Defense Ministry and arms industry. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant couldn’t stop talking about Israel, crediting a 2016 national security conference he spoke at in Israel as the inspiration for this summit. Bryant noted that Israel knows about homeland security. They live in a “tough neighborhood,” the governor said. The Israeli delegation featured companies specializing in security technology. They were there to expand into the U.S. market with multiple tools, including a border security sensor system, and a surveillance system that is already being used in Baltimore and Houston police departments. Summit discussions focused on the Gulf Coast’s maritime economy, including boats ferrying drugs, migrants, and weapons across the waters; natural disasters like hurricanes; area military presence; and how manufacturing equipment like drones can boost Mississippi. (Source: Times of Israel 03/15/18) Israel Aerospace Industries has two facilities in Mississippi, including Stark Aerospace in Columbus.

La. firm garners DOD fuel contract

Placid Refining Co. of Port Allen, La., and Hunt Refining Co. of Tuscaloosa, Ala., were among 16 firms that have each been awarded a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE600-17-R-0718 for various types of fuel. Placid Refining is to receive $101,487,613; and Hunt Refining $43,708,880. These were competitive acquisitions with 34 offers received. These are one-year contracts with a 30-day carryover. Locations of performance are Texas, Ohio, Alabama, Wyoming, Oregon, Illinois, New Hampshire and Louisiana, with a March 31, 2019, performance completion date. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy of Fort Belvoir, Va. (DOD 03/13/18)

ESG names OPC subcontractor

Maritime equipment manufacturer Schoellhorn-Albrecht of St. Louis, Mo., has been awarded a subcontract from Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) of Panama City, Fla., to design and build deck machinery, deck fittings, accommodation ladder system, and structural castings, include the shaft strut and stern tube for ESG’s design-build for the Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC). The OPC is the CG’s largest shipbuilding program. (Source: Marine Link 03/14/18)

Towing vessel search suspended

NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard has suspended its search March 13 for Malon Dawsey and Karl Prince, two of the three people who were aboard the towing vessel Natalie Jean that sank March 12 on the Mississippi River in the vicinity of mile marker 90.5 on the Mississippi River near New Orleans. A good Samaritan vessel, Earl Gonsoulin, rescued one of the three. The river is closed from mile marker 89 to 90.5. There was an estimated 600 gallons of fuel aboard the Natalie Jean. The cause of the incident is under investigation. (Source: UPDATE 03/13/18)

NOLA port eyeing 2nd terminal

About 100 miles north of where the mouth of the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico in St. Bernard Parish, La., the Port of New Orleans is in an early phase of plans for a second container port terminal in anticipation of significant growth by 2019-20. The port authority recently authorized up to $300,000 to be awarded to Los Angeles-based AECOM Technical Services to conduct multiple evaluations of the 675-acre property, known as the Sinclair site, which has been identified as an ideal location for the new facility. The first of these studies will cover navigation and wharf engineering issues; followed by examinations of potential yard layout options, community impacts; and environmental concerns related to the construction of the cargo terminal, according to Michelle Ganon, NOLA port authority’s VP of public affairs. The site is owned by the non-profit Meraux Foundation. The property is large enough to potentially accommodate three new ship berths and associated facilities. A potential $1B development around this second container terminal, and additions upstream in New Orleans, is part of the port’s “Gateway Master Plan” that is expected to be released over the next few months, and would more than double NOLA’s annual handling capacity. Analysts are predicting a 400,000-TEU increase in containerized cargo from plastic resins alone from 2017-20. Port NOLA tenant TCI Packaging, a logistics and warehousing services provider that packages resin for export, is already planning a $36.5 million investment to construct a new “Mega-Plastics District” at the port that will grow the firm’s resin packaging capacity 180 percent by 2019. In January, Port NOLA President/CEO Brandy Christian said plans for the Sinclair site call for "more than just a container terminal,” and that the goal was to create a full-service logistics hub that attracts businesses reliant on access to deep-water marine facilities. (Source: American Shipper 03/12/18)

Gulfport Seabees in Israel

CAMP COBRA, Israel - A small contingent of four Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 from Gulfport, Miss., have been at Camp Cobra in Israel since February as part of exercise-related construction. The Seabees are supporting exercise Juniper Cobra 2018, a joint ballistic missile defense exercise, between the U.S. European Command and Israel Defense Forces. Alongside the Seabees is the Air Force’s Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE). Currently, it’s the rainy season in Israel. The Seabees have been tasked with establishing a water drainage system; excavating ditches to help establish drainage, and grading the site to allow water flow to a retention pond. NMCB 11 is home-ported at Gulfport’s Naval Construction Battalion Center, which is part of the Naval Construction Force (NCF). NMCM 11 has personnel assigned to more than 15 locations worldwide. (Source: NMCB 11 03/12/18)

DDG 114 sails from HII-Pascagoula

USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114) set sail March 9 from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., headed to Charleston, S.C., where it will be commissioned into the fleet March 24. The guided missile destroyer is named for 19-year-old Medal of Honor recipient, Pfc. Ralph Henry Johnson, a 19-year-old Vietnam War Marine. The ship is the 64th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and 30th DDG 51 class destroyer built by HII-Pascagoula. Following commissioning, the ship will make way for its new homeport in Everett, Wash. (Source: Sun Herald 03/11/18)

HSM for hurricane support

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas - The Joint Staff recently approved the Humanitarian Service Medal for all service members, Coast Guard, Reserve components that include the National Guard, who were physically present during recent hurricane disaster relief. Any qualified personnel who directly participated with Hurricanes Harvey, Irma or Maria relief efforts, and provided disaster support to impacted areas would merit receipt of the award. (Source: AF Personnel System 03/09/18)

East-Gulf ports' contract talk resumes

Labor negotiations are back on between terminal operators/container shipping lines and unionized longshoremen, at East and Gulf Coast ports from Maine to Texas, to reach a new contract agreement before a September deadline. Talks resumed after pressure from shippers and businesses, whose supply chains face disruption if port operations should slow or shut down during the fall peak shipping season. Discussions between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance Ltd. (USMX), which represents terminal operators and container shipping lines, broke off in December over disagreements over the definition of automation, as it applies to dockworkers. ILA President Harold Daggett has said that blocking job losses to automation would be a focus of the talks. On March 9, the ILA and USMX said in a joint statement that they are resuming talks. The two sides will continue to negotiate Master Contract issues and are encouraging local port areas to concurrently work out terms for local agreements. (Source: Wall Street Journal 03/09/18)

Harvey Gulf filing for Chapter 11

The offshore vessel operator Harvey Gulf of New Orleans and Port Fourchon, La., is filing for a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The firm cited the offshore market’s downturn as an underlying reason for the restructuring, which primarily consists of a debt-for-equity swap. Harvey's board and its senior lenders have voted to approve a restructuring plan to position itself for "continued long-term success." Harvey Gulf seeks to pay suppliers in full, and only senior lenders will be affected by a proposed stock swap. Their claims will be exchanged for new stock. The debts affected include three credit facilities totaling $1.2B, according to the plan. In addition, the private equity group Jordan Company will relinquish claims on Harvey Gulf's shipyard - the Gulf Coast Shipyard Group of Gulfport, Miss. Harvey Gulf described the yard as an important asset to retain for a market turnaround. In its filing, the company has assets of between $100M-to-500M, debts exceeding $1B, 500 mariners and a fleet of 60 ships, including the high-spec MPSV Harvey Sub-Sea and the LNG-fueled OSV Harvey Freedom. (Source: Maritime Executive 03/09/18)

Monitoring Lake Ponchartrain basin

The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, along with numerous federal entities, have begun monitoring the environmental effects of opening the Bonnet Carre Spillway in Louisiana to lower water levels on the Mississippi River by moving part of the flow into Lake Pontchartrain. The spillway was opened March 8 by the Army Corps of Engineers; and is expected to remain open for some three weeks. Some of those effects could include algae blooms, caused by a combination of fertilizer and other nutrients, carried by the river interacting with sunlight. Such blooms have included blue-green algae, which is toxic to humans and pets. Large algae blooms can sink and cause low-oxygen dead zones on the lake’s bottom, which uses up oxygen after it decomposes. The LPBF will be monitoring how the addition of the river's freshwater reduces the salinity in the lake and as far east as Mississippi Sound; and effects on fisheries and oysters, said John Lopez, director of the foundation's coastal sustainability program. The combination of a brief opening period should limit the effect, he concluded. (Source: NOLA.com 03/08/18)

New CG commandant announced

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced the president’s nomination of Vice Adm. Karl L. Schultz to become the 26th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on March 8. Vice Adm. Schultz, commander of the CG's Atlantic Area since mid-2016, currently serves as the operational commander for all CG missions from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf, and five CG districts across 40 states. Pending U.S. Senate confirmation, Schultz is expected to relieve Adm. Paul F. Zukunft in a change of command ceremony June 1 in Washington, D.C. Adm. Zukunft is retiring. Vice Adm. Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray was nominated as the CG's 31st Vice Commandant. Pending confirmation, Vice Adm. Ray will relieve Adm. Charles D. Michel in a change of watch ceremony May 24 in Washington. Adm. Michel, the CG's first four-star Vice Commandant, is retiring. (Source: Coast Guard 03/08/18)

VT Halter begins LNG ATB

A start of construction ceremony at VT Halter Marine‘s Pascagoula, Miss., facility has held March 8 for the first U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) articulated tug/barge unit (LNG ATB). The ATB will be owned by New Orleans-based Q-LNG Transportation. The company formed in November, and is one-fifth owned by Harvey Gulf International Marine and 80 percent by CEO Shane Guidry. The ATB’s tug, Q-Ocean Service, will measure 128-feet and be powered by four GE 6L250 MDC Tier 4 diesel engines. The 324-foot barge, Q-LNG 4000, is designed to carry 4,000 cubic meters of LNG and will meet ABS and International Gas Carrier requirements as an LNG bunkering barge. The construction is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2020, as part of a long-term contract with Shell Trading to deliver LNG fuel to various ports in Florida and the Caribbean. (Source: Work Boat 03/08/18)

NOLA among Marine mod contract

Homeland Security Solutions Inc. of Hampton, Va., is being awarded a $16,278,611 fixed-priced modification under a previously awarded contract (M00264-17-C-0014) for program management support, training, human resources services and non-guard security support services to the Marine Corps. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to $27,032,448. Work will be performed at 17 locations in the U.S. and one in Japan. Among the U.S. locations is New Orleans' Marine Reserve HQ facilities on the West Bank. Work is expected to be completed Sept. 10, 2018. If options are exercised work will continue through March 9, 2019. FY 2018 Marine Corps operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,233,032 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was sole-sourced under Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B), as being the only responsible source. Marine Corps Installations National Capitol Region’s contracting office at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. (Source: 03/08/18)

HII: $77M more for DDG repairs

Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $77,561,557 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (N00024-17-C-4444) for the execution of USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) emergent repair and restoration. This effort shall provide for additional collision repairs, maintenance and modernization of the damaged destroyer. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, and is expected to be completed by January 2020. FY 2018 Navy operations and maintenance funding in the amount of $31,630,520; and FY-17 other Navy procurement in the amount of $7,150,259 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds in the amount of $31,630,520 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command of Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DOD 03/08/18)

Leveraging ship-build protection

WASHINGTON, DC - The Navy’s FY 2019 budget request, and long-range shipbuilding plan, were crafted with the industry’s health in mind, Navy leadership told members of the House Armed Services’ Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing March 6. Vice Adm. Bill Merz, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems, said the Navy’s annual 30-year shipbuilding plan (designed to reach 355 fleet ships by the 2050s) prioritizes industry in a way it never has before. “(W)e have to provide a balanced Navy. And with that, we are unlikely to ask for ships above our requirement.” An example of Navy funding for hull-specific requirements, rather than industrial needs, is the Littoral Combat Ship. Both LCS builders, Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., and Lockheed Martin/Fincantieri Marinette (Wis.) Marine, optimized shipyards to build two ships each per year, but in 2017, the Navy said it needed at least three total ships a year to keep the yards competitive before the next-generation frigate (FFG(X)) program kicks off. The Navy requested one ship for FY-19, which would be the 33rd LCS (one more than planned). The FY-19 requested ship “will lead to a gap in production that would negatively impact the yards, which will result in job losses … and increased cost for the Navy,” Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), whose district includes Austal. The Navy and Congress have to “figure out together if we can work it so that these shipyards don’t crumble on us … (and) without that, you will not have an effective competition for the frigate,” Bryne commented. “(Y)ou’ll have four ships over the next two years,” said Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts. “I believe it’s at the minimum sustaining level” for the shipyards and workforce, he continued, “but I do acknowledge that would probably cause some work turndown in those yards as we go back into frigate” and select one contractor. Five builders are under contract for ship design work on the FFG(X), which would form frigate requirements and selection criteria in the initial Request For Proposals next summer. (Source: USNI News 03/06/18)

Wicker: Shipbuilding too slow

WASHINGTON, DC – If Congress will pay for it, Navy Under Secretary Thomas Modly “believes” the service could get to a 355-ship Navy by the 2030s. The Navy’s long-range shipbuilding plan hits 355 hulls in the 2050s; and changing that rate is up to Congress. “An acceleration of this plan to achieve 355 ships is certainly possible, but it will require a much more aggressive funding approach and one that must recognize that shipbuilding is just the first step,” Modly stated. The plan as is has drawn the ire of both Republicans and Democrats. The Senate Armed Services’ Seapower Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said the Navy was moving too slow in building ships. After the hearing, Modly said the Navy has evaluated other plans to speed shipbuilding. (Source: USNI News 03/06/18) Gulf Coast Note: Wicker is up for re-election to another six-year term to the Senate this year.

Rising river diversion plan

NEW ORLEANS - A barge hit the Gov. Nicholls Street wharf March 6 damaging "a number of pilings," according to the New Orleans Police Department. No one was injured. It was not clear who owns the barge, according to NOPD. The Mississippi River is undergoing a swell of rainwater and melted snow from upstream, especially from the Ohio River, and bottlenecks through the waterway on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Officials plan to open the Bonnet Carre Spillway to divert some of the flow when it reaches 1.25M cubic feet per second. The river is expected to hit that mark March 8. The high river level does create some concern for vessels, according to the Coast Guard, which is monitoring river traffic. (Source: NOLA.com 03/06/18)

DOT awards $12.7M grant to port

MOBILE, Ala. - The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded the Alabama State Port Authority a $12.7M grant to convert an abandoned bulk handling facility at the Port of Mobile into a roll-on, roll-off mobile vehicle processing facility. “This project will add needed capability to this region of the Gulf of Mexico and greatly enhance the Alabama State Port Authority’s ability to serve the automotive and equipment industries,” said Alabama State Port Authority Director Jimmy Lyons. The total project is valued at about $60M, he said. The grant was awarded as part of DOT’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program. Following renovation, the facility will be capable of handling automobiles, military vehicles, trucks, other rolling stock, and heavy cargo. The Mobile port is the nation’s 10th largest seaport. On an annual average, between 52-to-67M tons of cargo move through the port. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently conducting a General Re-evaluation Report to examine the potential impacts of deepening and widening the federal navigation channel. The GRR is expected to be completed in fall of 2019. Funding for TIGER grants are awarded on a competitive and matching fund basis. (Source: Fox10 03/06/18)

Ingalls prez to address trade show

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Brian Cuccias, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, will be the keynote speaker at the 29th annual Jackson County Industrial Trade Show on March 20 at the B.E. “Mac” McGinty Civic Center in Pascagoula. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The show is event is open to those in the business community working in the industrial field. Additionally, Cuccias is executive vice president of Huntington Ingalls Industries, and is responsible for all programs and operations at HII-Pascagoula, including Navy destroyers, amphibious assault and surface combatant programs, and the Coast Guard cutter program. Cuccias earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, and attended executive education programs at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. For more information on the industrial trade show, contact the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce at (228) 762-3391 or e-mail to JohnsonL@jcchamber.com. The chamber is located at 720 Krebs Ave. in Pascagoula and via its website at www.jcchamber.com. (Source: Jackson County Chamber of Commerce 03/06/18)

$15.5M La. levee protection award

Clark Construction Enterprises of St. Martinville, La., has been awarded a $15,569,358 firm-fixed-price contract for New Orleans to Venice non-federal levee hurricane protection system at the Magnolia Pump Station in Plaquemines Parish. Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received. Work will be performed in West Pointe à la Hache, La., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 13, 2020. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of New Orleans is the contracting activity (W912P8-18-C-0019). (Source: DOD 03/05/18)

Cochran to resign April 1

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) announced March 5 that he intended to resign from the Senate on April 1. Cochran, the senior senator from the Magnolia State, is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The senator commented that “health has become an ongoing challenge,” he said in a media release. “I intend to fulfill my responsibilities and commitments to the people of Mississippi and the Senate through the completion of the 2018 appropriations cycle, after which I will formally retire from the U.S. Senate.” Gov. Phil Bryant will likely appoint a replacement and call for a special election Nov. 6, the day of the general election, to allow pick someone to serve out the remainder of his term. Cochran’s decision may draw candidates from the race against Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) whose 6-year term expired. He plans to run for re-election. In March 2017, Cochran was recognized as the 10th longest-serving U.S. senator in American history. (Source: Sun Herald 03/05/18) As a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Cochran has worked to ensure that the U.S. Armed Forces remain the best trained and equipped, including support for the Navy’s shipbuilding programs and military installations across Mississippi. In 2010, he was presented the Herbert H. Bateman Award from the American Shipbuilding Association, as well as the Sea Service Award from the Navy League of the United States.

LCS yards worried ahead of FFG-X

The Navy plans to buy one Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in its FY 2019 budget request, which has both LCS shipbuilders - Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., and Lockheed Martin/Fincantieri Marine of Marinette, Wis. - uncomfortable with only two years from the contract award for a next-generation guided missile frigate (FFG(X)), and the selection of one contractor. In 2017, the Navy was outspoken about the need for a minimum of three LCS per year rate until the new FFG(X) design-award was made. But a year later, new leadership is confident in the one ship buy for FY-19 that would leave one of the two builders without an FY-19 ship-build. The Navy had planned to buy 52 LCSs, but broke up the Small Surface Combatant requirement into 32 LCSs and 20 frigates. Both shipbuilders claimed any reduction in the volume of ship-builds would negatively impact the industrial base and suppliers as well as the ability to efficiently transition to the FFG(X). Currently there are five companies working with the Navy on maturing designs. Three have ties to the current LCS production lines. Austal is pitching a derivative of its Independence-variant LCS, Lockheed Martin/Fincantieri are pitching a derivative of its Freedom-class LCS, and Fincantieri/Lockheed are pitching the Italian FREMM - European multi-purpose frigate - design. Disrupting production lines may put LCS shipyards in a less-than-optimal efficiency position with not enough work to keep a skilled workforce together when the Navy begins its FFG(X) program. (Source: USNI News 03/02/18)

BAE plans to shutter Mobile shipyard

BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards of Mobile, Ala., will be closing down near the end of June. BAE acquired the facility in 2010 from Atlantic Marine. The company’s primary function has been ship repair, working on many offshore service vessels, drilling rigs, and semi-submersible platforms over the past eight years. BAE is expected to lay off 155 of 170 workers by June’s end, according to Karl D. Johnson, director of communications. The remaining workers will finish a new-build project on a 350-foot multi-service vessel for Oceaneering International, which has facilities along the Gulf Coast in Morgan City, La., and Houston. It will be the last for BAE in Mobile. Some 75 workers will be let go by this weekend, according to Johnson. BAE’s headquarters is in Burlington, Va. (Source: Work Boat 03/01/18)

LSU econ maritime study warning

The State of Louisiana lost 21,500 maritime-related jobs from 2014-16 based on the results of a prolonged downturn in energy prices; and the industry could be dramatically affected by lawmakers’ actions to the state tax policy, according to a study conducted at Louisiana State University’s Economics and Policy Research Group – with the assistance from the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) and the Louisiana Association of Waterway Operators and Shipyards (LAWS). The LSU economists surveyed OMSA and LAWS members about their employee bases, expenditures, and capital investments 2014-16 at the peak of the worldwide oil price collapse. They received 131 responses from companies, mostly offshore supply and inland waterways operators. Shipbuilding and repair took the largest hit with employment dropping 40 percent to 5,470. Water transportation operators let go nearly 18percent of its workforces, while 13 percent of ports, cargo handling, and other support activities dried up, according to the survey. The report was released as Louisiana lawmakers and Gov. John Bel Edwards wrestled with the state’s budget shortfall. The survey warned against making policy changes that could worsen the economic fallout from the oil depression. (Source: Work Boat 03/01/18)

EPF 10 launched from Austal

MOBILE, Ala. - The Navy’s 10th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessel, Burlington (EPF 10), was launched from Mobile’s Austal USA shipyard on March 1. Launching is a multi-step process over two days at Austal. The EPF is built in at a modular-manufacturing facility, moved to a docking barge, and then transported to dry dock where it is submerged into the Mobile River and launched. EPFs are versatile, non-combatant transport ships that are used for high-speed transportation of troops, military vehicles, and equipment, including a fully loaded Abrams Main Battle Tank. The vessels support a variety of missions including overseas contingency operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, support of special operations forces, theater security cooperation activities and emerging joint sea-basing concepts. Austal is also in production of Puerto Rico (EPF 11) and Newport (EPF 12). (Source: Seapower Magazine 03/01/18)

Austal delivers 7th LCS to Navy

MOBILE, Ala. - The Navy accepted delivery of the future Littoral Combat Ship USS Manchester (LCS 14) during a ceremony Feb. 28 at the Austal-USA shipbuilder’s Mobile, Ala., facility. Delivery marks the official transfer of LCS 14 from Austal USA’s team to the Navy. It is the final milestone prior to commissioning, which is scheduled for May in Portsmouth, N.H. Manchester is the 12th LCS to have been delivered to the Navy. It is the seventh Independence class built by Austal-USA to join the Navy’s fleet. (Source: PEO Littoral Combat Ship 03/01/18)

Seabees continue work abroad

KWAJALEIN, Marshall Islands - Fifteen Seabees from the Gulfport, Miss.-based Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 construction civic action detail has relieved another south Mississippi unit, NMCB 133, to begin a six-month deployment to the Marshall Islands. Five members of NMCB 11 and six from NMCB 133 conducted a week-long inspection and review before Lt. j.g. Lars Swanson, NMCB 133's officer in charge (OIC), turned the helm over to Ensign Daniel Hulse, NMCB 11's OIC, for the continued Seabee operations. NMCB 11's Seabees have begun consolidating tools and materials from islands across the Kwajalein Atoll in preparation for upcoming projects. Over the next six months, the Seabees will build on seven different islands to support Phase 0 Theater Security Cooperation operations in the Pacific. Projects will include two water catchment systems, a school fence, and two school renovations, all of which will improve the quality of life for the Marshallese population and enhance relationships between the two entities. (Source: NMCB 11 03/01/18)