Ri Facility News

Marine Travelift Inc. announced that Newport Shipyard has purchased a customized 200CII mobile boat hoist for its Newport, R.I. facility. When it’s delivered this fall, the machine will join the 70-, 100- and 500-ton Marine Travelift hoists currently in operation. The new 200CII boasts the first top-beam extension on a Marine Travelift 200-ton hoist and has been designed to use piers that were dedicated to a 100-ton machine and to travel into an indoor workspace. According to Eli Dana, Newport Shipyard’s General Manager, the yard was facing two challenges that prompted the 200CII purchase. “We’ve had increased demand from commercial customers, whose vessels are too heavy for the 100-ton hoist and are more difficult to schedule for the 500-ton due to space restrictions,” Dana explained.

Raytheon Company says it is to provide the U.S. Navy with AN/AQS-20A minehunting sonar systems and equipment. The system leverages advanced sonar technologies to support the Navy's critical minehunting missions, ensuring safe access and passage for military and civilian vessels on the world's oceans and waterways. Deployed from the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as the variable depth sonar for the AN/WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System (RMS), the AN/AQS-20A system is towed undersea to scan the water in front, below and to the sides of the vehicle for anti-shipping mines.

The Southeastern New England Shipbuilding Corporation (SENESCO) announced today that it has signed a major barge contract for construction of a 171-foot hopper barge that will have a holding capacity of 2,750 cubic yards. Construction has already begun and is expected to be completed this fall. The barge is being built for Disch Construction of Summit, New Jersey who will use the barge to transport dredge spoils. Today’s news coincides with SENESCO’s announcement of a major expansion of the company’s executive team to include the hiring of SENESCO’s first chief financial officer. “The growing reputation of SENESCO within the U.S. shipbuilding industry continues to generate new opportunities for our 200 employees,” said SENESCO President Bob Jarvis.

The U.S. Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $1.35 billion contract modification that provides funding for the construction of the eighth Virginia-class submarine and advance procurement for the ninth and 10th ships of the class. Virginia-class submarines at a rate of one per year from FY 03 through FY 08; the total value of the contract is $8.4 billion. Altogether, Electric Boat and its construction teammate, Northrop Grumman, have received contracts to build 10 ships of the class. The lead ship, USS Virginia (SSN-774), was delivered to the Navy in October 2004. workload projections since the initial contract was announced in 2003. It is not unplanned work. For that reason, it will not affect the number of layoffs the company will make over the next two years.

According to a Day report, the Electric Boat shipyard's Quonset Point, R.I., facility unveiled a new $11.4 million metal fabricating plant that fully automates the cutting and shaping of the sheet metal that goes inside a submarine — from the ventilation ducts to the sailors' lockers. The dedication of the new fabricating machinery, which includes huge three-story towers that hold hundreds of trays of material, brought out Rhode Island's top dignitaries, including its governor and members of its congressional delegation, as well as hundreds of Quonset Point shipyard workers. EB has teamed with Northrop Grumman Newport News to build the next-generation fast attack submarines.