Manufacturing Work News

HMS Anson, the fifth Astute class submarine, which BAE Systems has designed and built for the Royal Navy, has departed the company's shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and headed out to open sea for the first time.After being guided through the shipyard's dock system and rounding the tip of Walney Island, HMS Anson began her maiden journey to His Majesty's Naval Base Clyde, home of the UK's Submarine Service. She will undertake sea trials before joining HMS Astute, HMS Ambush…

Damen Green Solutions (DGS) in partnership with Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) and AEC, the scrubber supplier, is trialling a new technique for retrofitting scrubbers. Designated the Modular Approach, this new process is designed to cut the time that a vessel typically needs to spend in dock from two or more weeks to just a few days. This dramatic reduction in downtime, in combination with a more cost-efficient, certified scrubber, will be welcomed by ship owners and operators. The first installation of this type is already underway for the RoRo cargo vessel Stena Scotia.

BAE Systems welcomed the Right Honorable Sir Michael Fallon MP, Secretary of State for Defense to Barrow-in-Furness shipyard to press a button, commencing the first metal-cut for the Successor program. The secretary of State's visit follows a recent U.K. Government commitment of £1.3 billion funding for the Successor Submarine program on October 1. This program will deliver four new submarines for the Royal Navy and will replace the current Vanguard class, with the first submarine entering service in the early 2030s. The U.K.

Chinese energy giant CNOOC Group is studying the possibility of building a multibillion-dollar floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel, as-yet untried technology that would likely be used to produce gas from the deep waters of the South China Sea. While the state-run company has made no public announcement, a pre-feasibility study was well under way, CNOOC and other industry officials said. CNOOC was already talking to global engineering firms about possible joint design of the vessel, two industry officials added.

Signal International announced the option to build the second articulated tug/barge (AT/B) vessel has been exercised by Kirby Ocean Transport Company of Houston, Texas. Signal’s state-of-the-art continuous flow manufacturing facility in Orange, Texas now has a backlog of nearly $100M. Engineering, planning and material procurement for the first AT/B is on schedule for manufacturing work to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. Simultaneously, fabrication of the second unit is also slated to get underway before year’s end. The AT/B vessels are comprised of a 20,000 DWT ocean bulk barge with a 6,000 BHP AT/B ocean tug. Each barge measures 480 ft x 90 ft x 36 ft and will be outfitted with Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering’s Articouple connection.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd., Gyeongnam, Korea, is being awarded a $9,577,300 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N62470-10-C-8009) to exercise Option 1 which provides for the procurement of second ship-to-shore container cranes for Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point wharf. The work to be performed provides for fabrication of ship-to-shore container cranes used in container handling operations to load and off load ships and other vessels. The cranes are manufactured in different sizes and varying capabilities. The total contract amount after exercising this option will be $27,500,000. Crane manufacturing work will be performed in Changwon, Korea, and crane installation and utilization will be performed in Southport, N.C.

Thales has signed a significant contract with Intermarine to supply its Sonar 2093 system to the Italian Navy’s (Marina Militare Italiana) Gaeta-class minehunting fleet. The contract, signed on 18 November, follows on from a main contract agreed in August this year between Intermarine and the Italian Navy to refit eight Gaeta-class minehunters as part of a major mid-life technology upgrade. Under the terms of the latest contract, Thales UK will supply eight Sonar 2093 systems. The majority of the manufacturing work will be undertaken at Thales UK’s site in Templecombe, Somerset. Sonar 2093 is a variable-depth sonar system and is designed for the detection and classification of bottom and moored mines.

FGH Engineered Products Group, the equipment segment of Friede Goldman Halter, Inc., announced that its AmClyde unit has signed new contracts in excess of $13.5 million with customers in Freeport, Texas and Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. "AmClyde is very pleased to receive these key orders from our long-standing customer NPCC (National Petroleum Construction Company) of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and our new customer Cabett Subsea Products, Inc. of Houston, Texas," said Dick Juelich, AmClyde President. AmClyde has a contract with NPCC to provide a significant operating increase of the lifting capacity and reach for their 2000-ton model 76 marine crane, originally built in 1973.

The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $24 million contract modification to procure and manufacture long-lead time material for the Trident SSGN, a multimission submarine optimized for covert strike and special operations support. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics. This award modifies a five-year, $436 million contract, awarded in September 2002, for the detailed design and related support work to convert the first four Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarines (also known as Tridents) to an SSGN configuration. If all options are exercised and funded, the contract will be worth a total of $596 million.