Navy awards Gulf yards contracts for post-Katrina improvements

The Navy is providing more funds to Gulf coast shipyards damaged in Hurricane Katrina.

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss., is getting a $12,180,103 modification to a previously awarded contract for additional infrastructure improvements that include a ship cleaning system, accuracy control equipment, a Haeusler Collar Forming work cell, a material handling system and specialized flushing equipment for the Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard. Both the Pascagoula yards and the New Orleans shipyards are to get cable plant management systems, while the Gulfport, Miss., is to get a five axis saw. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss. (75 percent), Gulfport, Miss. (21 percent) and New Orleans (4 percent).

VT Halter Marine, Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded an $8,436,603 firm-fixed-price contract for infrastructure improvements to its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., that include shipyard paving, utility improvements, crane rail extensions and the procurement of additional crawler and overhead cranes.

The contracted improvements at the Northrop Grumman and VT Halter Marine shipyards are part of a series of contracts with Gulf Coast shipbuilders to be awarded under Section 2203 of Public Law 109-234, emergency supplemental appropriations for Defense, The Global War on Terror and Hurricane Recovery 2006. The purpose is to expedite recovery of shipbuilding capability in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina by repairing and / or replacing shipbuilding facilities, to make lasting improvement in shipyard facilities that would result in measurable cost reductions in current and future Navy shipbuilding contracts, and to improve the ability of shipbuilding facilities on the Gulf Coast to withstand damage from potential hurricanes or other natural disasters.