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by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff
BATH — Newly confirmed Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, toured BIW with Senator Olympia Snowe and Representative Chellie Pingree on Monday morning, before holding a brief press conference. Mabus was once Governor of the state of Mississippi, where BIW’s main competitor, Northrop Grumman’s Ingalls Shipyard is located.
Bath is the first shipyard Mabus has visited since his confirmation. “It’s the first time I’ve been out of Washington,” he quipped.
He spoke in support of the Bath shipyard. “America needs these ships; the Navy needs these ships,” he said. “We need to build them affordably, get them out on time, and make sure they are of the quality we have come to expect from BIW.” He referred to the increase in efficiency of the DDG 51 “Arleigh Burke” class destroyer program of some 34% over the last year.
He also spoke about the need to maintain BIW’s workforce, even though in the short term, there will be layoffs at the shipyard. The layoffs are expected to be temporary; Senator Snowe pointed out that she has requested $190 million in emergency supplemental funding to repair and maintain DDG 51 vessels, beginning in late summer or early fall.
BIW’s new president, Jeff Geiger, said that because of the work gap between the production of the two vessels, the DDG 51 program and the new DDG 1000 program, some jobs will be lost temporarily in a variety of trades. But most, if not all, are expected to be rehired when the shipyard gears up for the DDG 1000 program. “On the other side of the gap is a sustained workload for several years,” Geiger said.
In addition to 67 jobs lost in various trades on June 1, another 58 positions in preservation technology will see their last day on June 19. The 125 positions are expected to be rehired later in the fall as the DDG 1000 program gears up.
In April, the U.S. Navy had awarded General Dynamics a contract with a potential value of $47.4 million for BIW to conduct maintenance on DDG 51 ships. The contract provides for maintenance services such as planning, engineering support, on-site engineering liaison, craft assistance, and the accomplishment of emergency repairs.
Also in April, the decision was made to build all three DDG 1000 “Zumwalt” class destroyers currently appropriated at BIW, rather than splitting the work between Bath and Ingalls. Ingalls will do the lion’s share of new DDG 51 building over the next couple of years.
Rep. Pingree, who is a freshman member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that she believes the shipyard is on firm footing. “With the emergency work being done on vessels even now, including the Port Royal (a ship that suffered an accidental grounding in February near Honolulu), BIW will have a strong need for its skilled and dedicated workforce,” she said.
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