Project America

Northrop Grumman Suspends Work On Project America

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced today that, effective immediately, it has suspended all work on Project America, a cruise ship program to build two 1,900-passenger cruise ships at its Pascagoula, Miss., Ingalls Operation. Approximately 1,250 of the 1,600 full-time employees assigned to the project will be affected by this suspension. An additional 500 subcontractor employees could also be affected. American Classic Voyages Company (AMCV), which is the parent of Project America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 19, following the tragic events of Sept. 11 and their impact on the tourism industry. As previously stated, Northrop Grumman said that ongoing work on the program was subject to Project America's ability to secure immediate financing for the balance of the contract. The completion of this financing was contingent upon U.S. Maritime Administration loan guarantees. "Unfortunately, to date the U.S. Maritime Administration has decided not to continue the guaranteed funding necessary for the construction of the ships," said Phil Dur, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems sector. "So it is with sincere regret and a deep feeling of disappointment that we discontinue work on this contract." Northrop Grumman will continue its efforts with the U.S. Maritime Administration to obtain guaranteed funding for Project America

NCL Names Project America Ships

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) announced the names for its first two Project America ships, which will begin sailing Hawaii inter-island cruising next year. Project America 1 will be named "Pride of America", reflecting the "Best of America" theme on board. The line's second Project America ship, currently sailing as Norwegian Sky, will be reflagged into the U.S. registry, and will be renamed, "Pride of Aloha" reflecting the strong Hawaii theme to be incorporated during a complete refurbishment

Northrop Grumman Stops Work on Project America

Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that it has stopped work on Project America, a cruise ship program to build two 1,900 passenger cruise ships at its Pascagoula, Miss., Ingalls Operations. This decision follows negotiations with the U.S. Maritime Administration, which has decided not to continue the guaranteed funding necessary to complete the construction of the ships. As previously announced on October 25, 2001

NCL Acquires S/S United States

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has purchased the S/S United States, one of the country's most venerable ships built in the glory days of trans-Atlantic sea travel. NCL will convert the vessel to a state-of-the art, modern cruise ship and add it to NCL's planned U.S. flagged fleet. A relaunched S/S United States will add more than 1,000 American maritime jobs and 5,000 shoreside jobs to the 3,000 maritime jobs and 17,000 shoreside jobs that NCL's U.S

UPDATE: Cruise Ships to Move

According to a Northrop Grumman spokesman, the first Project America cruise ship -- which is 45 to 50 percent complete -- will soon be moved to free up precious production space at the company's Pascagoula facility. The company, which was rebuffed by the U.S. Maritime Administration to continue funding the ships in light of the bankruptcy filing by AMCV, is "weighing its options" as to the future of the vessels. The company earlier today announced it was taking a pretax charge totalling $60

Construction Commences On Milestone Cruise Vessel

Litton Ingalls kicked off the construction process of the first cruise ship to be built in the U.S. in 40 years, with a pre-July 4th ceremony at the yard's Pascagoula, Miss. headquarters celebrating the vessel's hull fabrication. Located among a patriotically-centered flag waving crowd was Uncle Sam, the yard's guest operator, who went aboard a plasma arc plate cutting machine to cut the initial steel plate for Project America Hull #1 — the first in a series of cruise ships built by

U.S. Navy To Benefit From U.S. Lines’ Demise?

In an effort to utilize the now defunct U.S. Lines cruise ships, Congress has recommended that the U.S. Navy purchase the vessels, for possible use as replacement Joint Command Ships. The two 1,900-passenger vessels, which were to have been delivered in 2003, at a price of $440 million each, were on their way to becoming “an American dream.” With the first vessel approximately 55 percent complete, the second vessel was about to have its keel laid

AMCV To Acquire MS Nieuw Amsterdam

American Classic Voyages (AMCV) has reached an agreement with Holland America line to buy MS Nieuw Amsterdam for $114.5 million, contingent upon various conditions expected to be resolved by this coming fall. A unit of Carnival Corporation, Holland America Line is scheduled to transfer the 1,214-passenger cruise ship to AMCV during fall 2000. AMCV plans to re-document Nieuw Amsterdam as a U.S.-flag vessel, complete with American crew

New Ship Expected To Generate More Than $30M For AMCV

The new ship to be purchased by American Classic Voyages from Carnival Corp. is expected to generate $35-40 million of cash flow for the company, and incremental earnings power could top $.50 a share, according to a report released by Lazard Freres & Co. LLC. AMCV announced last week an agreement to acquire the 1,214 berth Nieuw Amsterdam from Carnival for $114.5 million. The ship will be delivered to AMCV in October of next year

Survival Craft Inspectorate Delivers Safety Project

Survival Craft Inspectorate (SCI), a global provider of emergency marine evacuation systems, has delivered a fastrack safety refit for a global cruise shipping company.   SCI replaced and serviced key safety systems on board the Holland America cruise ship Rotterdam while she was docked in Hamburg, Germany. SCI sent over a specialist team to carry out the £260,000 (US$400,000) project in just 10 days.