Chesapeake Shipuilding completes fifth hull fab building

The new building is 160 feet long by 70 feet wide and 70 feet high and will allow larger hull sections to be construction in an indoor environment at the shipyard.

The building provides advanced climate control and has been fitted with two overhead cranes and state-of-the-art equipment.
It is large enough to accommodate the construction of complete tugboats or large hull sections in a controlled indoor environment.
Currently under construction in the building is an aft module of Hull 119, a 275 ft. coastal cruise ship.

The building demonstrates Chesapeake’s continuing commitment to quality and continuous improvement. The yard 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.

Omnibus bill funds ninth National Security Cutter

No mystery why the ninth NSC is in the legislation. It was put into 2016 Homeland Security appropriations bill (which was wrapped into the omnibus bill) by Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS), who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, even though it was widely criticized as “an unnecessary acquisition.”

“The demands on the Coast Guard to protect our coasts and waterways from terrorism, human trafficking, drug smuggling and other maritime threats are not diminishing. They’re increasing and will continue to do so as its jurisdiction in the Arctic region expands. The National Security Cutter is the best weapon we have to meet that demand,” said Senator Cochran, back in June. “The current Coast Guard production goal for only eight National Security Cutters is based on dated assessments and is insufficient to meet current or future requirements,”

“I am pleased that the Senate bill would maintain the national security cutter production line in order to give the Coast Guard more certainty and capabilities to meet its operational requirements,” he added.

The NSC production line is, of course, in Senator Cochran’s home state at the Pasagoula, MS, shipyard of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding Division.

Cochin Shipyard awarded license by GTT

CSL received the license after successfully completing the GTT qualification process including membrane tank mock-up installation. It is the first Indian shipyard to be licensed by GTT.

“Obtaining this technology has made a significant positive change to the technical competence and stature of this yard,” said Commodore K Subramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director of CSL. “Going forward, we feel that this technology would help the yard to tap the huge shipbuilding prospects in the LNG vessel segment. Our partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has been a critical factor in CSL completing GTT’s stringent qualification requirements.”

Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and CEO of GTT said that the agreement “marks the beginning of a promising cooperation with CSL. He added thta “building LNG ships in India, with the assistance of Samsung Heavy Industries, will not only enhance the initiative of the ‘Make in India’ objective of the Government of India, but will also provide excellent opportunity to an Indian shipyard in the growing LNG market”.

GAO calls for hold on FY 2016 LCS funding

The GAO report, an unclassified version of a report published in July, was released as news surfaced that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, in a Dec. 14 memo to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, had told the Navy to reduce the planned LCS/FF shipyard procurement from 52 to 40 and to downselect to one variant by FY 2019 (see earlier story).

The GAO reiterates a number of arguments made by critics of the program. It says that the lethality and survivability of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) remain l largely unproven, six years after delivery of the lead ships.

According to GAO, LCS was designed with reduced requirements as compared to other surface combatants, and the Navy has since lowered several survivability and lethality requirements and removed several design features—making the ship both less survivable in its expected threat environments and less lethal than initially planned. The Navy is compensating for this by redefining how it plans to operate the ships.

In 2014, the Navy conducted its first operational test of an early increment of the surface warfare mission package on a Freedom variant LCS, demonstrating that LCS could meet an interim lethality requirement. The Navy declared LCS operationally effective. However, says the GAO, the Navy’s test report stated that the ship did not meet some key requirements.

Further, the Department of Defense’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation has stated that there is insufficient data to provide statistical confidence that LCS can meet its lethality requirements in future testing or operations, and further testing is needed to demonstrate both variants can meet requirements in varied threat environments.

The Navy also has not yet demonstrated that LCS will achieve its survivability requirements, and does not plan to complete survivability assessments until 2018—after more than 24 ships are either in the fleet or under construction, says GAO.

The Navy has identified unknowns related to the use of aluminum and the hull of the Independence variant, and plans to conduct testing in these areas in 2015 and 2016. However, the Navy does not plan to fully determine how the Independence variant will react to an underwater explosion.This variant also sustained some damage in a trial in rough sea conditions, but the Navy is still assessing the cause and severity of the damage and GAO has not been provided with a copy of the test results.Results from air defense and cyber security testing also indicate concerns, but specific details are classified.

Read the GAO report HERE

Signal International in $5 million settlement with EEOC

DECEMBER 19, 2015 — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports that bankrupt Mobile, AL, headquartered shipbuilding and repair company Signal International, LLC will pay an estimated $5 million to 476

Colonna’s Shipyard to add larger dry dock

DECEMBER 18, 2015 — Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced today that Colonna’s Shipyard, Inc. will invest over $30 million to expand its operation in the City of Norfolk, VA, creating 51 new

NASSCO gases up second LNG fueled box ship

DECEMBER 18, 2015 — General Dynamics NASSCO reports that on December 11 itsuccessfully completed bunkering of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for TOTE Maritime’s Perla Del Caribe, the world’s second containership to be

Congressmen will resist SecDef effort to cut LCS buy

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

Ingalls Shipbuilding launches DDG 114

 

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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Austal to build two more Cape Class patrol vessels

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.

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