Shipyards balance Virus vs Ops

The economic slowdown from COVID-19 related restrictions may be significantly disrupting the production of major defense programs and their supply chains, James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition told reporters in a media call on April 28. At shipyards, the near-term priority work is on track; but the Navy is still eye-balling potential problems over mid- and long-term work. Asked about continuing operations while the virus threatens shipyards and manufacturers, Geurts said, “we are seeing less (disruptions now), but we are still learning and studying hard what the potential downstream impacts could be.” The Navy and industry partners have only been five weeks into the pandemic, so it would be hard to draw large conclusions about impacts on specific programs. Some firms had disruptions and are just coming back. Protecting the workforce has meant remaining flexible and having a prevention plan, according to Huntington Ingalls Industries officials. During the past several weeks, the shipbuilder – at facilities at both Pascagoula, Miss., and Newport News, Va. - has steadily adapted its process by instituting evolving preventative measures. “I can say we have about 10 times as many people working remotely today as we did six weeks ago,” CEO Mike Petters said during the shipbuilder’s virtual meeting April 28. Roughly 10,000 employees are now teleworking, Beci Brenton, HII spokesperson, told USNI News after the meeting. HII did report employees testing positive for COVID-19 at both of its shipbuilding facilities – 30 employees at Pascagoula and 34 at Newport News, as of last weekend. Shipyards are increasing screening efforts, including temperature checks. Workers with fevers are told to stay home or seek medical attention. HII-Pascagoula started temperature checks (100.5 or higher is directed to get rechecked if same or higher the employee is sent to get a COVID-19 test and quarantine as necessary. Newport News will start a similar process next week, Brenton said. “My sense right now is (that) it is stabilizing and we are learning how to operate more and more efficiently in the midst of (the disease), as opposed to strictly trying to avoid having any infections,” Geurts said. (Source: USNI News 04/28/20) https://news.usni.org/2020/04/28/shipyards-continue-to-balance-covid-19-mitigation-with-efficient-operations.