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James River News

23 Feb 2024

Virginia-class Submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798) Launched

(Photo: HII)

HII announced that Virginia-class submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798) was recently launched into the James River at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division.Shipbuilders transferred the submarine from a construction facility to the floating dry dock, where it was later submerged and moved by tugboats to a submarine pier at the shipyard for final outfitting, testing and crew certification.“Following the christening of this mighty submarine in May, witnessing Massachusetts launch into the river is a source of immense pride for our shipbuilding team


21 Feb 2024

Newport News Begins Topside EMALS Testing on John F. Kennedy (CVN 79)

(Photo: HII)

HII announced today that its Newport News Shipbuilding division (NNS) recently began topside testing of the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) on aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).EMALS, first integrated into USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), replaces the existing steam catapults currently in use on the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.Following successful “no-load” testing on catapults one and two, known as the ‘bow cats,’ the NNS team, alongside the John F. Kennedy crew, has now started “dead-load” testing.

06 Jul 2023

HII Dry Dock Gate to Become Part of Sustainable Fish Reef

(Photo: HII)

HII announced its Newport News Shipbuilding division partnered with the Virginia Marine Resource Commission (VMRC) to donate and sink a former dry dock caisson gate offshore, giving it new life as part of an artificial reef.Caisson gates are used at the harbor end of a dry dock, with pipes inside allowing for water from the James River to enter when NNS needs to flood the dry dock. This particular gate, originally put into service at NNS in 1967, was part of a dry dock no longer in use at the shipyard.NNS crews worked to prepare the caisson gate


02 May 2022

Suggestions for Making America’s Marine Highway Program More Effective

© Ed Metz / Adobe Stock

The America’s Marine Highways Program is one of several grant programs administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) to promote more effective use of the nation’s navigable waterways. This particular program was established by Congress in 2007 to provide grants for projects that would promote water-borne alternatives to available landside transportation services, especially for freight carried by trucks.Consistent with this specific goal, the program’s statutory authority


29 Apr 2022

HII Launches Virginia-class Submarine New Jersey

(Photo: HII)

HII announced that Virginia-class submarine New Jersey (SSN 796) was recently launched into the James River at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.The 7,800-ton submarine, which had been in a floating dry dock since being transferred from a construction facility in March, was submerged and moved by tugboats to the shipyard’s submarine pier for final outfitting, testing and crew certification.“Achieving this construction milestone is a very rewarding event to our shipbuilding team,” said Jason Ward, Newport News’ vice president of Virginia-class submarine construction.

10 Dec 2021

MARAD Awards $12.6 Million in Grants for US Marine Highways

© Anneke / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along our navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.“These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Program will help us move more goods


08 Nov 2021

Inland Waterways: A Crucible of Issues

© Bill Perry / Adobe Stock

As 2022 appears on the not-so-distant horizon, we asked inland waterways executives to reflect on the major issues impacting their industry. Just how those issues evolve – and whether they present as challenges or opportunities – is, of course, unknown. Answers to some future questions will be relatively straightforward, confidently based on industry knowledge and experience. Other outcomes remain hazier, and next steps could be influenced by forces and players completely removed from the business of barges


21 May 2021

MARAD to Provide $11.8 Million in Marine Highway Grants

© jerry / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Friday announced the availability of $10,819,000 in grant funding for the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP), which aims to encourage the use of America’s 25,000 miles of navigable waterways."The America’s Marine Highway Program increases the use of environmentally sustainable practices to move freight across our transportation system.” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “These investments


03 Mar 2021

Newport News Launches US Navy Submarine Montana

The newly launched Virginia-class submarine Montana (SSN 794) was christened in September 2020, and is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in late 2021. (Photo: Matt Hildreth/HII)

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said on Wednesday that the Virginia-class submarine Montana (SSN 794) was launched into the James River at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division in Virginia.The 7,800-ton submarine, which had been in a floating dry dock since being transferred from a construction facility in October, was submerged and moved by tugboats to the shipyard’s submarine pier, for final outfitting, testing and crew certification.“For our shipbuilders, launching Montana signifies five years of hard work


06 Jan 2020

MARAD Awards Marine Highways Grants

© vitec40 / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Monday announced more than $7.5 million in grants to nine Marine Highway projects. The funding, provided by MARAD’s America’s Marine Highway Program, will go toward enhancing existing services in Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington“This $7.5 million investment will improve our country’s vital fuel-efficient waterway transportation system, which makes an important contribution to exports and economic growth,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L.

17 Dec 2019

Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy Launched

Tugboats move the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) from Newport News Shipbuilding’s Dock Dry 12 to Pier 3, where the ship will undergo final completion and outfitting before planned delivery to the U.S. Navy in 2022. (Photo: Matt Hildreth/HII)

The U.S. Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was launched Monday at Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Virginia.Following the launch, the Ford Class aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), was guided with help from six tugboats down the James River about a mile from Newport News Shipbuilding’s Dry Dock 12, where it has been under construction, to the shipyard’s Pier 3. There, the ship will undergo additional outfitting and begin


09 Dec 2019

Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy Christened

More than 20,000 guests attended the christening ceremony of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) at Newport News Shipbuilding division. (Photo: Ben Scott/HII)

The U.S. Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) was christened Saturday during a ceremony at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division.The second aircraft carrier in the Ford Class, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) is also the second aircraft carrier built by Newport News Shipbuilding named for JFK. Like its forerunner CVN 78, Kennedy is a truly electric aircraft carrier, with many of the systems powered by steam on Nimitz-class carriers now powered by electricity.

11 Oct 2019

SHORTSEA SHIPPING: All the Right Moves (Finally)

The Baton Rouge-NOLA container on barge service / (CREDIT: Port of New Orleans)

Marine Highways Gain Traction in the Intermodal Supply Chain.In the United States, landside infrastructure is at a crisis point. Congestion at the big hub ports, exacerbated by imperfect intermodal interfaces with surface transport serving cargo hinterlands is at the heart of the matter. As politicians bicker over a possible infrastructure package, the Highway Trust Fund, funded by taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, has continued its downward journey towards further deficits (now $144 billion). And, where countless U.S.

20 Jun 2019

SHORTSEA CRANE OPERATIONS: Lifting a Port to Prosperity

A Liebherr LHM 420 Crane is at the heart of a rapidly expanding shortsea shipping success story. Reliability is the key for a port that’s turned the corner, with nowhere to go but ‘up.’Way back in January of 1996, I moved to Richmond, Virginia from Houston, Texas. Still very much in the maritime business as a cargo surveyor and ship expeditor, the Port of Richmond intrigued me, every time I drove past it on I-95. Eventually, I got a tour of the struggling port, courtesy of then port director and retired USCG Captain Marty Moynihan. Moynihan, an energetic executive, was keen to expand the port’s horizons.Back then, as much as half of the port’s meager business was tobacco shipping to and from Philip Morris, just across the street.

23 Apr 2019

MARAD Awards $6.7m in Marine Highway Grants

Container on Barge (Photo: PortNOLA)

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced $6,790,000 in grants to three Marine Highway projects. The funding, provided by MARAD’s Marine Highway Program, will go towards enhancing existing services in Louisiana and Virginia as well as supporting the development of a new project in New York.“These grants will expand the use of our country’s waterways, which are essential to our economic growth and vitality,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

17 Dec 2018

Huntington Ingalls Rolls-out Virginia Class Submarine Delaware

American Fortune 500 shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has launched the recently christened Virginia-class submarine Delaware (SSN 791) into the water for the first time at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.During a three-day process that began last Wednesday, the 7,800-ton submarine was moved out of a construction facility and into a floating dry dock using a transfer car system. The floating dry dock was submerged, and the submarine was launched into the James River. Once in the water, the boat then was moved to the shipyard’s submarine pier for final outfitting, testing and crew certification.“Successfully


13 Aug 2018

VT Halter Launches New Ferry for Virginia

Powhatam (Photo: VT Halter Marine)

Mississippi shipbuilder VT Halter Marine, Inc. has launched a new ferry, Powhatam, for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).In November 2016, VT Halter Marine was awarded the contract for the design, construction and delivery of the new 499-passenger/70-vehicle ferry that will replace the current vessel, the Virginia, which was built in 1936. The new ferry Powhatam, measuring 270ft x 65ft x 15ft, is capable of holding up to 70 passenger vehicles, or 14 trucks/buses


09 Aug 2018

MarAd Awards $4.8 Mln for Marine Highway Projects

(Photo: Port of Baton Rouge)

Nearly $5 million in grant funding awarded this week will help enhance existing marine highways serving ports in Louisiana, Virginia, New York and Connecticut, and support the development of new container-on-barge services in Kentucky and Rhode Island.On Wednesday, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced $4,872,000 in grants for six projects through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Marine Highway program, works with public and private stakeholders to support the expanded use of navigable waterways to relieve landside congestion


15 Jul 2018

4 Recovered after Boat Collision near James River Bridge

Good Samaritans rescued four people from the water Saturday morning, after a collision between a recreational boat, with six people aboard, and an oyster barge being pushed by a tug which was headed for an oyster bed near the James River Bridge. The two people went missing after a collision took place between a recreational boat, with six people aboard. First responders from multiple agencies are working together by boat and air to search for the two other people that were aboard the 19-foot center console boat when the incident occurred. The waterway is closed between the James River Bridge and the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel for safety of life.

04 Aug 2017

Suisun Bay Vessel Removal Project Completed

Maritime Administration Executive Director Joel Szabat joined federal, state and local officials and environmental groups to mark the completion of an agreement to remove 57 non-retention vessels from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (SBRF) by September 30, 2017. The departure of the Cape Borda for recycling reaches the milestone two months ahead of schedule. “Our progress in Suisun Bay is the result of hard work and smart collaboration,” said the Maritime Administration’s Executive Director Joel Szabat. “There is perhaps no greater symbol of the maritime industry’s environmental progress than what has been accomplished here. In 2009, MARAD entered an agreement with local officials and environmental groups to expedite disposal of 57 non-retention SBRF vessels


09 Jun 2017

Virginia-Class Submarine Indiana Launched

The Virginia-class submarine Indiana (SSN 789) has been launched into the James River and moved to Newport News Shipbuilding’s submarine pier for final outfitting, testing and crew certification. (Photo: Ashley Major/HII)

The Virginia-class submarine Indiana (SSN 789) was launched into the James River at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division, the shipbuilder announced. The boat was moved to the shipyard’s submarine pier for final outfitting, testing and crew certification. “Launch is a true testament to our shipbuilders’ roughly four years of hard work,” said Matt Needy, Newport News’ vice president of submarines and fleet support. “Over the next several months, we will work closely with the Indiana crew to bring this great ship to life.

16 Dec 2016

Video: US Navy Tests Autonomous Swarmboats

An unmanned rigid-hull inflatable boat operates autonomously during an Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored demonstration of swarmboat technology held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. During the demonstration four boats, using an ONR-sponsored system called CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command Sensing), operated autonomously during various scenarios designed to identify, trail or track a target of interest. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams)

The U.S. Navy is examining new possibilities for autonomy in future naval missions, putting autonomous unmanned vessels to the test in a recent demonstration in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Officials from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), together with partners from industry, academia and other government organizations, leveraged a combination of high-tech software, radar and other sensors to get a “swarm” of rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) and other small vessels – “swarmboats” – to collectively perform autonomous patrol missions with only remote human supervision.

26 Oct 2016

US Awards $4.85 Mln for Waterways Projects

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced $4.85 million in grants to six Marine Highway projects along the waterways of 17 states and the District of Columbia. The goal of the Maritime Administration’s Marine Highway Program is to expand the use of U.S. navigable waterways to relieve landside congestion, reduce air emissions and generate other public benefits by increasing the efficiency of the surface transportation system. “These grants will help us take advantage of the economic and environmental benefits of one of America’s most crucial transportation assets – our coastal and inland waterways,” Foxx said. The grants will help expand existing marine highway operations across New York Harbor


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