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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Indefinite News

27 Mar 2024

Pilot Called for Tugboat Help Before Baltimore Bridge Disaster

Source: US Army Corps of Engineers

The pilot of the container ship that knocked down a highway bridge into Baltimore Harbor had radioed for tugboat help and reported a power loss minutes earlier, federal safety officials said on Wednesday, citing audio from the ship's "black box" data recorder.The head of the National Transportation Safety Board also said that Francis Scott Key Bridge, a traffic artery over the harbor built in 1976, lacked structural engineering redundancies common to newer spans, making it more…

27 Mar 2024

Divers Recover Two Bodies After Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies.

Divers on Wednesday recovered the remains of two of the six workers missing since they were tossed into Baltimore Harbor from a highway bridge that collapsed into shipping lanes when a faltering cargo freighter rammed into the structure, officials said on Wednesday.The bodies were pulled from the mouth of the Patapsco River a day after the massive container ship lost power and its ability to maneuver before plowing into a support pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, knocking…

27 Mar 2024

Baltimore Rescuers Lose Hope for More Survivors from Bridge Collapse

Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

Rescuers have lost hope of finding more survivors of the Baltimore bridge collapse, the coast guard said, as efforts switched on Wednesday to looking for bodies of the missing and more answers to why a container ship smashed into the span.Search divers were expected to return near dawn to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of the bridge in Baltimore Harbor to search for six workers missing and now presumed dead.The disaster has forced the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the U.S.

27 Mar 2024

Divers to Search Baltimore Harbor

Search divers were expected to return near dawn on Wednesday to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of a bridge knocked down in Baltimore Harbor by a faltering cargo ship, leaving six workers missing and presumed dead.The disaster also forced the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, and created a traffic quagmire for Baltimore and the surrounding region.As the odds of their survival vanished, the search for the six workers was suspended on Tuesday evening…

09 Nov 2023

US Shipbuilding: Policy and Progress

© Maxim Khalansky / Adobe Stock

When asked about the top issues facing shipbuilders, executives at the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) listed a number of topics and concerns. SCA is the only national trade association representing U.S. shipyards engaged in the building and repairing of military and other government and commercial vessels, and companies providing goods and services to the shipbuilding industry.Shutdowns have consequencesMatthew Paxton and Paula Zorensky are, respectively, SCA President and Vice President. Their top federal concern at the end of September? A U.S.

30 Aug 2023

Birdon Taps Master Boat Builders to Build WCC Superstructure

(Image: Birdon)

Birdon America announced it has selected  Coden, Ala. shipbuilder Master Boat Builders to build the superstructures for the U.S. Coast Guard's Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) program.In 2022, Birdon was awarded a contract worth up to $1.187 billion to design and build up to 27 new vessels under the WCC program, including 16 River Buoy Tenders (WLR) and 11 Inland Construction Tenders (WLIC). The vessels will be constructed within a 10-year period commencing with an 18-month design finalization period.Birdon had previously tapped Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards to build the hulls…

23 Aug 2023

Silver Ships Delivers First Vessel Under NSW SSC Contract

(Photo: Silver Ships)

Silver Ships recently completed the first deliveries under the Naval Sea Systems Command of seven 11-meter Open Center Console (OCC) vessels and two 8-meter Open Center Console (OCC) vessels, under the Naval Special Warfare Surface Support Craft Contract. The U.S. Navy has also conducted Pre-Delivery Inspection and Testing (PDIT) of three vessel variants included in the contract.The Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Surface Support Craft (SSC) contract entails construction of five different vessel variants of the Ambar series rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB).

24 Jul 2023

HII Awarded Contract for Aircraft Carrier Maintenance

(Photo: HII)

HII announced Monday that its Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy to support maintenance of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in San Diego. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ), cost-plus incentive and award contract has a potential value of $528.4 million over five years, if all options are exercised.The contract covers maintenance, repair and modernization efforts for Nimitz- and Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers home-ported in and visiting the San Diego area.

18 Jul 2023

Birdon Announces Subcontracts for Waterways Commerce Cutter Builds

(Image: Birdon America, Inc.)

Birdon America, Inc. on Tuesday announced it has awarded the first wave of major subcontracts in support of its $1.187 billion contract to design and build 27 Waterways Commerce Cutters (WCC) for the U.S. Coast Guard. This announcement follows a successful initial Program Management Review (PMR), the first major milestone of the WCC program.The subcontracts range in value from $10 million to $50 million and are firm-fixed price (FFP), indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) for design, development, manufacturing and delivery.

19 May 2023

US Navy Orders LCS Propulsion Items

File photo: U.S. Navy Independence class littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10). (Photo: Josiah J. Kunkle / U.S. Navy)

Defense Maritime Solutions, Inc. secured a contract from the U.S. Navy's Southwest Regional Maintenance Center in San Diego in support of the waterjets and seals that they originally supplied for the Littoral Combat Ship Independence Class.The $9,135,942 firm-fixed price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract includes four ordering year options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $60,582,873. Work will be performed globally and defined in each delivery order. The completion of the base year is expected to be twelve months after award.

24 Jan 2023

FMD Wins Support Contract for US Navy's Freedom-class LCS Engines

USS Freedom (LCS 1) (Photo: James R. Evans / U.S. Navy)

Power and propulsion systems provider Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) announced it has been awarded a five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) requirements contract by the U.S. Navy that makes the Beloit, Wis.-based company the sole source for engineering and technical support of the main propulsion diesel engines on the Navy’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program.FMD said it will provide global maintenance and repair services and OEM parts to improve engine performance and increase operational availability.

01 Dec 2022

NOAA Hires Fugro to Monitor Shoreline Changes in Texas, Louisiana

Credit: Fugro

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded Fugro two mapping projects on the US Gulf Coast to monitor and quantify shoreline change in this flood-prone region.The projects, located in Texas and Louisiana, are underway and were awarded under an existing indefinite delivery indefinite quality (IDIQ) contract to support the agency’s Coastal Mapping Program. Geo-data deliverables are scheduled for Q3 2023 and will be integrated into the national shoreline dataset…

31 Oct 2022

Russia Suspends Participation in Grain Deal Citing Black Sea Fleet Drone Attack

Credit: Eugene/AdobeStock

The United Nations, Turkey, and Ukraine are pressing ahead to implement a Black Sea grain deal with a transit plan in place for 16 ships on Monday, despite Russia suspending its participation in the pact that has allowed the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to world markets.Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, halted its role in the Black Sea deal on Saturday for an "indefinite term" because it said it could not "guarantee safety of civilian ships" travelling under the pact after an attack on its Black Sea fleet.The United Nations and Turkey…

31 Oct 2022

What is Known About the Drone Attack on Crimea?

Illustration only - ©Andrii Salivon/AdobeStock

Russia suspended participation in the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal after what it said was a Ukrainian drone attack on vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol in the early hours of Saturday. What do we know so far? WHAT HAPPENED? Russia said 16 air and maritime drones attacked civilian and Black Sea Fleet vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol in Crimea at 0420 Kyiv time on Saturday. Russia said all nine of the air drones were destroyed. Four of the seven maritime drones were destroyed on the outer perimeter of the bay, but three more made it inside before they were destroyed, Russia said.

28 Mar 2022

Metal Shark Awarded $36 Million Patrol Boat Deal

(File photo: Metal Shark)

Louisiana-based shipbuilder Metal Shark has been awarded a contract  to establish fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2023 pricing for Near Coastal Patrol Vessels (NCPVs) seven through 10, and accompanying outfitting, testing, spares, tools, travel, reactivation, crew familiarization, exportation and transportation, the U.S. Department of Defense announced.Awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, the deal is a $36,195,438 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite…

16 Jun 2022

Updates, Developments and Advances in Combat and Patrol Craft

SBI completed an order last December for 52 Coastal Interceptor Vessels for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Photo: SAFE Boats)

My first visit in 2007 to the American Society of Naval Engineers’ (ASNE) Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC) was an eye-opener. Having built a naval architecture career with frigates, destroyers and other large naval and commercial ships, I was eager to learn of the smaller craft used by the U.S. Navy and other government and military bodies. As my flight into Norfolk, Va. descended over Chesapeake Bay, I gazed in amazement as a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) raced toward Virginia Beach, slowed, glided up the beach and into its shore base.

28 Sep 2022

Phoenix Wins $112 Million Navy Contract

File photo: Derek Harkins / U.S. Navy)

Phoenix International Holdings Inc. announced it has been awarded a $112 million cost-plus-award-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for worldwide undersea deep ocean search and recovery operations and engineering and technical support to the U.S. Navy Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV). Work will be performed worldwide and is expected to be completed in September 2027.Commenting on the award, Phoenix President Patrick Keenan stated, “Phoenix has a long history of providing undersea operations services to the U.S.

03 Oct 2022

Bristol Harbor Group Wins USACE IDC Contract

Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. (BHGI) won an Indefinite Delivery Contract (IDC) for naval architecture and marine engineering services for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Philadelphia District, Marine Design Center. This contract continues BHGI’s partnership with the Marine Design Center (MDC). Some of the projects BHGI has worked on for the USACE include, but are not limited to, retrofits, finite element analyses, electric load analyses, vibration analyses, computational fluid dynamics analyses, as well as barge, towboat and dredge design.In partnership since 2010, BHGI and the MDC team have worked on a wide variety of projects both for the USACE and other federal agencies, including the United States Coast Guard, NASA, and the National Park Service.

07 Oct 2022

Birdon Wins Coast Guard River Buoy, Inland Construction Deal

(Image: Birdon Group)

The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded Denver-based Birdon America, Inc. a contract for the detail design and construction of its new river buoy and inland construction tenders.The deal is part of the Coast Guard's Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) Program to replace its aging fleet of 35 inland tenders that support the service’s aids to navigation (ATON) mission in federal inland waterways. The WCC fleet is approaching obsolescence, with an average vessel age of over 57 years and with ships still in service at 78 years old.

11 Aug 2022

US Coast Guard Selects Builder for Over the Horizon Cutter Boats

Over the horizon V cutter boat line drawing. Image courtesy of Inventech Marine Solutions.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced it has selected Inventech Marine Solutions of Bremerton, Wash., to build the next generation of over the horizon (OTH V) cutter boats. The first delivery order for four OTH Vs was placed August 3 with a value of $1.973 million. These four OTH Vs will be used for operational test and evaluation before the program moves to full production. The 10-year contract supports delivery of up to 200 boats with a total value of approximately $103 million.Beyond the similarities of speed and weight between the OTH V and the OTH IV it is replacing…

03 Jun 2022

The Shearer Group Wins Contract from Texas DOT

The Shearer Group, Inc. (TSGI) announce it has been awarded another five-year indefinite deliverable contract with the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT).The Houston-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm will provide engineering services required for the preparation of plans, specifications and estimates (PS&E), related documents and construction services to update existing passenger-vehicle ferry vessels and marine shore-side facilities.

29 Jun 2022

USACE Galveston Taps eTrac for $13M Hydrographic Surveying, Mapping Contract

Image courtesy eTrac, a Woolpert Company

The shared capacity, indefinite delivery contract will support USACE Civil Works projects to help advance navigation safety, dredging, flood control and hurricane response.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District awarded eTrac, a Woolpert Company, with an architect-engineer contract to provide hydrographic surveying and mapping services within the Galveston District and potentially the USACE Southwest Division. The five-year, Multiple Award Task Order Contract has a total shared capacity of $13 million.

27 May 2022

US Navy Taps GA-EMS to Study Propulsor Bearing Concept Designs

(File photo: Mark Turney / U.S. Navy)

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) said on Friday it has been awarded a task order from Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD) to conduct a manufacturing assessment of several new propulsor bearing concept designs for U.S. Navy submarines. The task order is under the Propulsor Demonstration Hardware (PDH) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract previously awarded to GA-EMS.“Manufacturing feasibility evaluations such as this are crucial steps in determining whether a new concept design will deliver greater performance…