DECEMBER 17, 2015 — Congressional supporters of the Littoral Combat Ship are coming to its defense within hours of defense media reports of an intense internal battle between the Navy and Secretary
The ship was translated from the land level facility to the drydock which was slowly flooded until the ship was afloat.
“This is an exciting milestone and represents a significant amount of effort by our Navy and industry team to get the ship to this point” said Capt. Mark Vandroff, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “We’re looking forward to completing outfitting efforts, undergoing test and trials and delivering another highly-capable asset to our Fleet.”
“The last week of translating this quality ship across land and then launching it from our drydock is no small task, and our shipbuilders accomplished it in a very efficient manner,” said George Nungesser, Ingalls’ DDG 51 program manager. “All crafts and personnel making up this DDG shipbuilding crew have performed very well, and we were able to launch DDG 114 ahead of schedule. It’s a nice milestone to accomplish as we end the year.”
Ingalls has built and delivered 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. There are currently four more under construction at Ingalls, including Ralph Johnson, which is scheduled to be christened in the spring of 2016.
John Finn (DDG 113) was christened in May and is expected to undergo sea trials in 2016. Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) celebrated her keel-authentication milestone in October and is expected to launch in the first half of 2017. Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) started construction in July and is scheduled for keel laying in the second quarter of 2016.
DDG 114 is named to honor Pfc. Ralph Henry Johnson, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions that saved others during the Vietnam War. Johnson shouted a warning to his fellow Marines and hurled himself on an explosive device, saving the life of one Marine and preventing the enemy from penetrating his sector of the patrol’s perimeter. Johnson died instantly. The Charleston, S.C., native had only been in Vietnam for two months and a few days when he was killed at the age of 20.
The highly capable Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles.
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The two 58.1 m monohull vessels will be delivered to the National Australia Bank in mid-2017 and subsequently chartered to the Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Defence) for a minimum term of three years.
The shipbuilder has successfully employed a similar off-balance-sheet charter of defense ships through the charter of Westpac Express to the U.S. Navy for 13 years.
The two vessels will be sustained by Austal in accordance with the in-service support offering provided to the eight existing Cape Class Patrol Boats designed and constructed by Austal and owned by the Australian Border Force.
Austal says it is providing a residual value guarantee to the National Australia Bank that may be exercised at the conclusion of the charter term.
In the event that the Department of Defence returns the ships at the end of the charter and National Australia Bank exercises the residual value guarantee option, then Austal will purchase the vessels at a pre\agreed price.
Austal CEO Andrew Bellamy said the contract would take the fleet of Cape Class Patrol Boats to ten vessels and reflected the quality and performance of the existing fleet of ships Austal recently delivered on time and on budget.
“It is also a terrific vote of confidence in Austal and the products we design, build and sustain at our Henderson shipyard in Western Australia. As Australia’s only ASX-listed prime contractor we are very well positioned to support the Commonwealth in its future continuous shipbuilding plans,” Mr. Bellamy said.
DECEMBER 14, 2015—Detyens Shipyards, Inc., Charleston, SC, took delivery of a newly constructed Floating Drydock on December 11. Built by Corn Island Shipyard, Grandview, IN, the 400 ft x 108 ft drydock
SEA-Vista is a partnership between SEACOR Holdings Inc. and private equity firm Avista Capital Partners. Its ships will be operated by SEACOR subsidiary Seabulk Tankers, Inc.
The Independence is a 610-foot, 50,000 deadweight-ton, and LNG-conversion-ready Jones Act product tanker with a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity. Construction on the ship began in November 2014.
As part of the ceremony, the ship’s sponsor, Mrs. Allison Moran, CEO of RaceTrac Petroleum, christened the ship with a traditional champagne bottle break over the ship’s hull. Mrs. Jayne Rathburn, former CEO/owner of US Joiner, pulled the trigger to release the ship into the San Diego Bay.
“General Dynamics NASSCO shipbuilders are revolutionizing the future of American shipping with the concept and construction of innovative, cost-saving, and environmentally-sound vessels,” said Kevin Graney, vice president and general manager for General Dynamics NASSCO. “When delivered, these ECO Class, Jones Act-qualified tankers will be among the most fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly tankers anywhere in the world.”
“We are pleased to complete this important milestone for the first in a series of three fuel-efficient, ECO Jones Act product tankers that will be delivering into the SEA-Vista fleet and operated by Seabulk Tankers, Inc,” said Daniel J. Thorogood, president and chief operating officer for Seabulk Tankers, Inc.
For its commercial work, NASSCO partners with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), for access to state-of-the-art ship design and shipbuilding technologies.
With more than 20 years of engineering and maritime experience, Mr. McGee will oversee vessel design from preliminary conceptual design to complete Coast Guard and regulatory approvals.
Chesapeake Shipbuilding currently has on staff five naval architects and two engineers.
“McGee’s experience in various positions with the U.S. Coast Guard, including Hull Division Chief at the Marine Safety Center and former Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection, is a valuable asset we look forward to having on our team,” said Charles A. Robertson, President and CEO. “His rock solid reputation in the maritime industry will be critical for the retention and expansion of our customer base.”
Mr. McGee holds a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a master’s of science in both naval architecture and marine engineering as well as aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan.
Chesapeake Shipbuilding designs and builds steel and aluminum commercial vessels primarily between 100 and 400 feet. The shipyard has upgraded its production capacity significantly in recent years, by acquiring additional land, building two new hull fabrication buildings and investing in additional automated equipment.
“Brent has been a key contributor to Bollinger’s success in leading our proposal and estimating efforts on the major governments programs the company has pursued over the years,” said President and CEO Ben Bordelon.
“His leadership and management skills will assist in guiding the continuous success of our engineering department.”Mr. Blackburn has over 16 years of experience in the U.S. shipbuilding and maritime industry. He joined Bollinger in 2004 working in various key engineering, estimating, and proposal roles mainly focusing on the company’s government programs.
Mr. Blackburn’s career began as a Project Engineer in Bollinger’s engineering group and he has risen steadily through the engineering and technical design departments. In 2014, he was promoted to Technical Manager, a position that solidified and proved his abilities, skills, and overall knowledge in managing projects and priorities.
In a stock exchange announcement, the company noted that in its FY2015 results it had reported experiencing schedule and margin pressure on Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 6, the first that it is building as the prime contractor.
“Austal is building multiple LCS in parallel,” said the announcement, “with the impact of cost and schedule performance on LCS 6 continuing to impact LCS 8 and LCS 10 – both of which are in an advanced state of completion.
“Austal’s ability to apply lessons learnt and productivity enhancements from LCS 6 to vessels in advanced construction, namely LCS 8 and LCS 10, has been more limited than anticipated. As a result, FY2016 earnings from Austal’s U.S. shipyard are expected to be lower than in FY2015, with U.S. shipbuilding EBIT margin expected to be in the range of 4.5% to 6.5%. [Its U.S, shipbuilding EBIT margin was 5.2% in 2015 and 6.6% in 2014]
“Austal’s other major vessel program at its U.S. shipyard, the Expeditionary Fast Transport program (formerly called the Joint High Speed Vessel), has reached construction program maturity, with shipbuilding margin stable”.
Austal CEO Andrew Bellamy said that, while there were flow on effects from LCS 6 onto LCS 8 and 10, vessels at earlier stages of construction would benefit from the lessons learnt on LCS 6 to increase future US shipbuilding margin.
“The LCS program is maturing more slowly than we had expected, however we are working hard to manage the risks and expect an improvement across the program after delivery of LCS 10,” Mr. Bellamy said. “The ongoing strong performance of the US$1.6 billion Expeditionary Fast Transport program at our U.S. shipyard is a great illustration of the efficiencies we can deliver once a vessel program reaches the mature production phase and we are confident the LCS program will be no different.
“Austal has a strong balance sheet and is generating good cash flow, which is enabling further investment in the business during the 2016 financial year to best position the company to win additional contracts and service work to build our order book, revenue, and earnings into the future.”
The False Claims Act suit alleges that Bollinger misrepresented the longitudinal strength of patrol boats it delivered to the Coast Guard that resulted in the boats buckling and failing once they were put into service. Bollinger Shipyards is located in Lockport, Louisiana.
“Those who expect to do business with the government must do so fairly and honestly,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We expect the utmost integrity and reliability from the contractors that design and build equipment that is essential to public safety and our national defense.”
In 2002, the U.S. Coast Guard contracted to lengthen the Coast Guard’s existing fleet of 110-foot patrol boats to 123 feet and to make other modifications. Bollinger was the subcontractor that performed the 123-foot patrol boat design and conversion work. An essential element of the conversion was that the modified boats have sufficient longitudinal strength to meet the performance requirements set forth in the contract.
The United States alleged Bollinger provided the Coast Guard with engineering calculations that falsely represented the longitudinal strength of the boats and was two times greater than their actual longitudinal strength. The United States alleged Bollinger ran the calculations three times and only provided the Coast Guard with the highest and most inaccurate, of the three calculations. The United States further alleged Bollinger also failed to follow the quality control procedures that were mandated by the contract that would have ensured against such engineering miscalculations.
The case was handled jointly by the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Louisiana.The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Today, Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIND) reported that it has signed definitive agreements with Nichols Brothers Boat Builders for the new build of two U.S. flagged coastal vessels. The 100 guest ships will be built at the Nichols Brothers shipyard on Whidbey Island, WA. The first completed ship is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2017 and the second vessel is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2018.
Lindblad had previously signed a non-binding letter of intent with Nichols Brothers for these new builds and paid a $4 million non-refundable slot fee during the third quarter of this year to reserve the shipyard’s capacity, which will be charged against the second vessel’s cost.
The definitive agreements provide for Nichols Brothers to construct the two new build vessels at a purchase price of $48.0 million and $46.8 million, respectively, payable monthly based on the value of the work performed (offset by the $4.0 million slot fee previously paid).
Jensen Maritime is serving as the naval architect on the project with interior design work provided byTillberg Design International. Building of the vessels will commence this year.
“These new ships mark an exciting step in the long-term growth of the company, and enables us to capitalize on the substantial demand for our expeditions. With our significant resources we can continue to deliver on our promise of expedition travel at its best, and can now expand our unique offerings in the Americas where we have very strong demand,” said Sven Lindblad, President and CEO of Lindblad. “We are pleased to be working with Nichols Brothers in Washington State on this project given their long history in shipbuilding, including having built our current U.S. flagged ships, the National Geographic Sea Lion and National Geographic Sea Bird.”
“This is an important milestone in the company’s history as we enter the 50th Anniversary of the birth of expedition travel begun by my father, Lars-Eric Lindblad, with the first laymen expedition to Antarctica in 1966,” Mr. Lindblad added.
Some key features of the new vessels: