Houma firm to build USNS Navajo

WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer announced March 12 that the new class of Towing, Salvage, and Rescue ship will be named Navajo in honor of the major contributions of the Navajo people have made to the armed forces. The new class of vessels will be based on existing commercial towing offshore vessel designs and will replace the current T-ATF 166 and T-ARS 50 class ships. The first ship of this class will be USNS Navajo (T-ATS 6). The contract includes options for potentially seven more vessels, and each additional ship will be named in honor of prominent Native Americans or tribes. Gulf Island Shipyards of Louisiana was awarded a $63.5M contract last year for the detail design and construction of the new Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship that are to replace the current T-ATF 166 and T-ARS 50 class ships in service with the US Military Sealift Command. The first ship in the class will be built at the company’s shipyard in Houma, La., and is expected to be completed in March 2021. (Source: Secretary of the Navy 03/12/19)