Private shipyard plan may mirror SIOP

With its public shipyard improvement efforts going strong, the Navy currently is developing plans to "mirror" those for private shipyards, according to Vice Adm. Tom Moore, head of the Naval Sea Systems Command. "It's going to mirror the (shipyard infrastructure optimization plan – SIOP)," he told reporters Sept. 13 at the Pentagon. "We went out to each of the private yards and said: 'What would you need in terms of investments to be more successful’?" The private shipyard optimization initiatives were a small brief in the Navy's VY 2020 ship maintenance and modernization plan. "For private shipyards, the Navy, in conjunction with the ship repair industry, is developing Private Shipyard Optimization (PSO) initiatives for optimal placement of facilities and major equipment in each region," according to the funding document that was headed by Navy acquisition executive Hondo Geurts. "This includes an investment plan for infrastructure needed to support availability maintenance in support of a 355-ship Navy," according to the document. These initiatives are designed to do for private shipyards what the service already does its 20-year plan to improve its four public shipyards. The effort is likely to be more complicated because the money will be going to private yards instead of government-owned entities. One option would be similar to the Navy's Small Business Innovative Research fund, which has a pool of money the service can pull for a worthwhile idea. Geurts did not provide a timeline as to when Navy might bring it up Congress. However, the modernization plan document suggested by the time DoD transmits its FY-21 budget. (Source: Inside Defense 09/13/19) Gulf Coast private shipyards include Austal USA, HII-Pascagoula, Eastern Shipbuildand VT Halter Marine to name but a few. https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/moore-navys-private-shipyard-investment-plan-will-mirror-siop