Bollinger in $8.5 million False Claims Act settlement

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.

Nichols to build two coastal cruise ships for Lindblad

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:   

 

DDG 1000 is out on sea trials

 No other details yet, but a couple of photos have been released and a couple of video clips have cropped up on YouTube, all of which show the dramatic difference between the vessel’s stealthy tumblehome hull form with wavepiercing bow and the exteriors of more traditional destroyers.

The “Star Wars” flavor of the ship is not confined to its external appearance: DDG 1000 introduces a wide range of new technologies including Electric Drive/Integrated Power Systems, ship control and damage control automation, and a totally integrated, ship-wide command & control systems. Generating far more power than the DDG 51 ships, DDG 1000 is suitable for future deployment of directed energy beam weapons and the electromagnetic railgun, both of which are under intensive development.

zumwalt sea trials 700

 

BAE San Francisco gets $16.5 million Navy contract

Work by the shipyard will include clean and gas free tanks, voids, cofferdams and spaces, deck non-skid renewal, ballast tank preservation, cylinder head and liner overhaul, main engine overhaul, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning support, degaussing system repairs, annual lifeboat certification, galley ventilation system cleaning, docking and undocking, propeller system maintenance and boss cap replacement, bow thruster maintenance, overhauling sea valves, and underwater hull cleaning and painting.

The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $16,566,073.

Work will be performed in San Francisco and is expected to be completed by April 1, 2016.

Fiscal 2016 maintenance and repair funds in the amount of $16,501,090 will be obligated in 2016.

The contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website and two offers received.

The Navy’s Military Sealift Command is the contracting activity (N32205-16-C-4308).

GD NASSCO delivers first ECO tanker to APT

The Jones Act tanker is the first of a five-tanker contract between NASSCO and APT, covering design and construction of five 50,000 deadweight-ton, LNG-conversion-ready product tankers with a 330,000 barrel cargo capacity.

In addition to being LNG conversion ready, the 610 ft long ECO class tankers are a new “ECO” design, offering significantly improved fuel efficiency and the latest environmental protection features including a Ballast Water Treatment System.

Helping achieve the fuel savings are a G-series MAN Diesel & Turbo ME slow-speed main engine and an optimized hull form.

“The delivery of this new vessel symbolizes the future of American shipping: innovative, cost-effective, and green. The Lone Star State, along with the four others we are currently building for APT, will be among the most fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly tankers—anywhere in the world,” said Fred Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “These tankers are 33 percent more fuel efficient than the previous five tankers built by NASSCO for APT. We are proud to be leading the charge in building these next generation of tankers.”

Between 2007-2010, NASSCO built five similar State Class product tankers for APT.”We are very excited to be taking delivery of the Lone Star State. This state-of-the-art tanker is a welcome addition to our growing fleet and will provide safe, reliable and efficient transportation service to our customers for many years to come,” said Robert Kurz, vice president of Kinder Morgan Terminals and president of American Petroleum Tankers. “We thank NASSCO for their tremendous support in achieving this important milestone.”

The ships have designed by DSEC, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) of Busan, South Korea. The design incorporates improved fuel efficiency concepts through several features, including a G-series MAN Diesel & Turbo ME slow-speed main engine and an optimized hull form. The tankers will also have the ability to accommodate future installation of an LNG fuel-gas system.

Navy awards Ingalls $200 million LPD 28 contract

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According to defense media, BIW will get the additional destroyer under a “hull swap” agreement in a 2002 MOU between the Navy and its two largest shipbuilders that, among other things, reportedly included an agreement that, should a twelfth LPD be ordered,a fourth DDG 51-class ship or equivalent workload would be awarded to BIW.

Apparently, that’s likely to happen and that destroyer will be DDG 127, once Congress comes through with the funding.

However all that works out, the funds awarded Huntington Ingalls under the contract announced today will be used to purchase long-lead-time material and major equipment, including main engines, diesel generators, deck equipment, shafting, propellers, valves and other long-lead systems.

“This funding demonstrates the priority the Navy places on Ingalls getting started on this important ship,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “Our shipbuilders have made great strides in the LPD program, and we are performing well. Building LPD 28 is key to maintaining a reliable supplier base and leverages our hot production line, enabling our team of shipbuilders to build this ship and future amphibious warships as efficiently and as affordably as possible.”

Ingalls’ 10th San Antonio-class LPD, John P. Murtha (LPD 26), was the most complete and lowest-cost LPD when launched, with many key systems finished months ahead of the shipyard’s historic best in the program.

Though LPD 28 will be substantially similar to its predecessors, it won’t have quite the same appearance. Gone will be the towering enclosed masts that had been built at HII’s now-closed Gulfport, MS Composites Center of Excellence facility, in their place will be open masts similar to those on the DDG 51 destroyers.

The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide LPD 17 class ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey. The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting amphibious and expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century.

Vigor awarded $8.9 million for T-AO 202 drydocking

Work by the shipyard will include general services for ship, clean and gas free tanks void and cofferdams and spaces, number seven port and starboard cargo tanks preservation, number two center cargo tank preservation, number ten center cargo tank preservation, close survey inspection, main deck overhead preservation, main house preservation, main engine exhaust insulation replacement, lifeboat repair and maintenance, reefer container installation and underwater hull preservation.

The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $9,788,394.

Work will be performed in Portland and is expected to be completed by March 2, 2016. If options are exercised, work will continue through March 12, 2016. Fiscal 2016 maintenance and repair contract funds in the amount of $8,931,411 are being obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding delivers ATB

DECEMBER 1, 2015 — Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding (FBS), Sturgeon Bay, WI, has delivered the Articulated Tug Barge Unit (ATB), tug Leigh Ann Moran and tank barge Mississippi, to Moran Towing Corporation. It

Canada to go ahead with box ship to oiler conversion at Davie

The project will see the Quebec shipbuilder continue with the conversion of a containership into an interim fleet oiler for the Royal Canadian Navy. Until now, Davie has been working on the basis of an letter of intent from the previous government.

Timely continuation of the project was put in doubt when rival Irving Shipbuilding wrote letters to members of the incoming cabinet asking that its alternative solution be considered. That move provoked a lot of unhappiness among the rest of the Canadian shipbuilding community.

Today, though, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy M. Foote and Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan issued the following statement:

The Government of Canada was recently briefed on the interim auxiliary oil replenishment file. We know that this process commenced as a result of an expression of interest by Chantier Davie Canada Inc. We also know that the previous government made a decision to proceed with this proposal through a sole-source rather than a competitive process. The previous government also modified the long-standing procurement rules governing contracts for interim defence requirements.

We have taken time to assess all these facts and have also taken the following into consideration:The process is at an advanced stage. If we restarted this initiative by launching a competition, we would lose precious time in providing the Navy with a critical refuelling and naval support capability.

The ship has been purchased by Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and is in the shipyard undergoing conversion.

According to public reports, several hundred employees have already been hired.

Due to the structure of the agreement entered into by the previous government, we will be required to pay up to $89 million in expenses should we not proceed with this initiative.

After amassing the facts and carefully deliberating, The Government of Canada determined that proceeding with Project Resolve is the most viable course of action to provide the Navy’s at-sea oil replenishment capability until the Joint Support Ships, to be built by Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, are operational. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that competitions for major military procurements stand up to the highest standards of openness and transparency.

Furthermore, The Government of Canada will undertake a review of the process for sole-source contracts for military procurements, including looking at current regulations and policies and those regulations amended by the previous government.
vailability of RCN ships has increased in the immediate term with the completion of the first modernized frigates and now that the Victoria-class submarines have achieved a steady state level of readiness, and will further increase in the short-term with interim AOR capability and in the medium-to-longer term with the Joint Support Ships, Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships, and Canadian Surface Combatants that will be delivered as part of Government shipbuilding.

Davie box ship to oiler conversion gets go ahead

The project will see the Quebec shipbuilder continue with the conversion of a containership into an interim fleet oiler for the Royal Canadian Navy. Until now, Davie has been working on the basis of an letter of intent from the previous government.

Timely continuation of the project was put in doubt when rival Irving Shipbuilding wrote letters to members of the incoming cabinet asking that its alternative solution be considered. That move provoked a lot of unhappiness among the rest of the Canadian shipbuilding community.

Today, though, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy M. Foote and Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan issued the following statement:

The Government of Canada was recently briefed on the interim auxiliary oil replenishment file. We know that this process commenced as a result of an expression of interest by Chantier Davie Canada Inc. We also know that the previous government made a decision to proceed with this proposal through a sole-source rather than a competitive process. The previous government also modified the long-standing procurement rules governing contracts for interim defence requirements.

We have taken time to assess all these facts and have also taken the following into consideration:The process is at an advanced stage. If we restarted this initiative by launching a competition, we would lose precious time in providing the Navy with a critical refuelling and naval support capability.

The ship has been purchased by Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and is in the shipyard undergoing conversion.

According to public reports, several hundred employees have already been hired.

Due to the structure of the agreement entered into by the previous government, we will be required to pay up to $89 million in expenses should we not proceed with this initiative.

After amassing the facts and carefully deliberating, The Government of Canada determined that proceeding with Project Resolve is the most viable course of action to provide the Navy’s at-sea oil replenishment capability until the Joint Support Ships, to be built by Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards, are operational. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that competitions for major military procurements stand up to the highest standards of openness and transparency.

Furthermore, The Government of Canada will undertake a review of the process for sole-source contracts for military procurements, including looking at current regulations and policies and those regulations amended by the previous government.
vailability of RCN ships has increased in the immediate term with the completion of the first modernized frigates and now that the Victoria-class submarines have achieved a steady state level of readiness, and will further increase in the short-term with interim AOR capability and in the medium-to-longer term with the Joint Support Ships, Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships, and Canadian Surface Combatants that will be delivered as part of Government shipbuilding.

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