The Ocean Springs News

America’s largest military shipbuilding company Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) said that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday for its new Shipbuilder Academy site in Gulfport.Shipbuilder Academy was established in 2016 at Ingalls’ Maritime Training Academy with a mission to provide enrolled students with a strong foundation in the maritime industry and fill the current industry skills gap.Through a partnership with the Gulfport School District, Ingalls is expanding the program to a new site inside the repurposed Gaston Point Elementary School.“Ingalls has been a cornerstone of the Gulf Coast for more than 80 years, and we want to provide paths for hiring local talent,” said Brian Cuccias, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding.

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division hosted a signing day ceremony on Tuesday for the 2019 graduates of its Shipbuilder Academy program. Twenty-six high school seniors were offered full-time positions at Ingalls after successfully completing the specialized career technical education (CTE) program.“For more than 80 years, Ingalls has provided the families of our communities the opportunity to learn relevant job skills and build successful careers,” said George S. Jones, Ingalls’ vice president of operations. “Signing day is a continuation of that legacy.

The Navy awarded five (5) Conceptual Design (CD) contracts for the Guided Missile Frigate (FFG(X)). The contracts based on these requirements will facilitate maturing multiple designs during the 16 months of the Conceptual Design phase, and will allow the Navy to better understand the cost and capability drivers across the various design options. Furthermore, this will inform the final specifications for a full and open competition with a single source award in FY20 for Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) of the FFG(X). The entrance criteria for the Conceptual Design phase is that offerors must have a parent design that has been demonstrated at sea and must already be paired with a domestic shipyard for potential production, which will reduce the necessary development timeline.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has awarded nearly $108,000 in grants for 25 different projects from schools and educational organizations in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The grants, which were requested by all of the organizations, will be used for projects associated with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This is the sixth year for Ingalls' STEM program. The company has awarded more than $500,000 for STEM-related projects during that period.

Mississippi’s Lt. Governor Tate Reeves and VT Halter Marine’s Executive Vice President John Prendergast are slated to deliver keynote addresses at the Gulf States Shipbuilders Consortium’s (GSSC) summer meeting scheduled August 21‐22, 2013, in Ocean Springs. The Lt. Governor’s remarks will focus on Mississippi’s continued efforts to improve the quality of its workforce. “A strong, well‐trained workforce is key to attracting and retaining quality jobs, like those in the shipbuilding industry,” Lt. Governor Reeves said. Prendergast will talk about workforce development from a business owner’s perspective focusing on the importance of a skilled workforce.

Mississippi’s Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves and VT Halter Marine’s Executive Vice President John Prendergast are slated to deliver keynote addresses at the Gulf States Shipbuilders Consortium’s (GSSC) summer meeting scheduled August 21‐22, 2013, in Ocean Springs. The Lt. Governor’s remarks will focus on Mississippi’s continued efforts to improve the quality of its workforce. “A strong, well‐trained workforce is key to attracting and retaining quality jobs, like those in the shipbuilding industry,” Lt. Governor Reeves said. Prendergast will talk about workforce development from a business owner’s perspective focusing on the importance of a skilled workforce.

Northrop Grumman names Teri G. Marconi Vice President & General Manager of Naval and Marine Systems Division. In her new position, Marconi will have executive responsibility for all naval and marine systems programs within Northrop Grumman's Baltimore-based Electronic Systems sector, including operations in Annapolis and Sykesville, Md.; Charlottesville, Va.; Sunnyvale, Calif.; Bethpage, N.Y.; Ocean Springs, Miss.; Harvey, La.; Kings Bay, Ga.; and New Malden, U.K. Marconi joined the company in 1985 and has held a variety of leadership positions in program management…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) announced today that it has awarded a $1,045,400 Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) grant to the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR). The grant will provide funding for the acquisition of the Charnley-Norwood Property, a parcel of waterfront land in Ocean Springs, Miss. The proposal will include the restoration of an historic century-old structure on the property, as well as the development of a future public land use plan to restore the waterfront parcel to a community green space and public museum. Created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, CIAP provides funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas producing states to conserve and protect the coastal environment.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded a contract to supply the navigation and communication systems for nine new 114.8 ft patrol boats being built for the Iraqi navy. The $19m firm, fixed-price contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit by Swiftships Shipbuilders, LLC of Morgan City, La. Work on the contract will be performed by Northrop Grumman’s Ocean Springs, Miss., facility. Under the contract, each of the vessels will be fitted with an integrated bridge system (IBS) based on Sperry Marine’s new-generation VisionMaster FT navigation technology. The IBS will include navigation radars and electronic chart display and information systems running on TotalWatch multi-function workstations.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) announced that it awarded $67m in grants to Alabama, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and their political subdivisions in 2009 through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP). Created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the CIAP provides funding to the six Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas producing states to mitigate the impacts of energy development on marine and coastal areas. MMS awarded funds to the eligible states in 2009 for 86 projects - Alabama, three; Alaska, 14; Louisiana, 29, Mississippi, 20; and Texas, 20. California’s first grant award is expected in the coming weeks. The majority of the projects focus on conservation…

Obama Administration officials will hold a Gulf Coast Regional Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting in New Orleans on Monday, October 19, 2009. The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, consists of senior-level officials from Administration agencies, departments, and offices. The Task Force, established by President Obama via presidential memorandum on June 12, is charged with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning.

Swiftships Shipbuilders, LLC, Morgan City, La., is being awarded a $180,998,189 fixed-price letter contract for the detail design and construction of nine patrol boats and associated equipment and services for the Iraq Navy. This contract is in support of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Case IQ –P-SAZ and U.S. Case E4-P-LBT. The contract is for nine Swiftships model 35PB1208E-1455 patrol boats along with six 30mm gun weapons systems, machine gun mounts and cradles, spare parts, and contractor engineering technical services. Work will be performed in Morgan City, La., (60 percent), Detroit, Mich., (30 percent), Ocean Springs, Miss., (8 percent) and Charlottesville, Va., (2 percent) and is expected to be completed by August 2012.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has awarded a $276,000 grant through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) to Mississippi’s Department of Marine Resources to build a new Marine Education Center in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This is the first CIAP grant to be awarded since the state’s overall plan was approved in February 2009. The CIAP was created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Through the program, MMS will provide $250m in grants annually, from 2007-2010, to six eligible Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas producing states – Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, California and Texas. The funding to Mississippi included $30.9m for each of the fiscal years 2007 and 2008 and $23.8m for each of the fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

SeaArk Marine, Inc. has delivered a 50-ft. Transporter to Gulf Islands National Seashore in Ocean Springs, MS. The vessel, Captain George, and her crew are tasked with servicing the barrier islands of Mississippi and Florida within the Gulf Islands National Seashore region. The vessel is used daily to transport equipment to the islands of Horn, Ship, Cat, Peti Bois in Mississippi and Fort Pickens in Florida. The SeaArk Transporter Class vessel is constructed of all-welded marine grade aluminum. The vessel features a 5° hull design for stability, load bearing capacity of 22,000 lbs.

VT Halter Marine Inc. has teamed with Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Electronic Systems sector to bid for the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command’s (TACOM) Theater Support Vessel (TSV) project. The TSV will support the Army’s transformation goal of deploying a combat-ready brigade anywhere in the world within 96 hours and will reduce support requirements for large-scale, onshore arrivals. The TSV will allow the Army to rapidly respond to crisis situations by arriving quickly and landing at ports that are too shallow or under-equipped for conventional vessels. With the capacity to transport more than 350 troops plus gear, and the capability to load and unload troops and equipment in as little as 20 minutes…

Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced several organizational changes and associated executive-level appointments within its Electronic Systems sector. These changes will better position the sector for future business opportunities. “This reorganization will enable us to better focus sector resources on targeted business growth areas, while maximizing the use of executive leadership strengths, especially in such areas as military intelligence, space sensors, naval and marine systems and process and program management,” said Robert P. Iorizzo, president of the Electronic Systems sector. • George W. • Taylor W. • John V. • Robert W. • James L. • John C. • Charles J. • Thomas F. Kline, sector director, Quality Assurance. George W.

The U.S. Navy is awarding indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contracts to 391 contractors that will provide for their competition for service requirements solicited by Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, Naval Supply Systems Command, Military Sealift Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Strategic Systems Programs, and the United States Marine Corps. The 22 functional service areas within the scope of the contracts include 1. Research and Development Support. 2. Engineering System Engineering and Process Engineering Support. 3. Modeling, Simulation, Stimulation, and Analysis Support. 4. Prototyping, Pre-Production, Model-Making, and Fabrication Support.

The Coast Guard Cutter Tornado will welcome its new Commanding Officer during a change-of-command ceremony at the Naval Station in Pascagoula, Miss. on Fridayy. Lt. Cmdr. Robert J. Landolfi Jr. will relieve Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Hollingshead who served as the Commanding Officer of the Tornado for the past two years. Hollingshead assumed command of Coast Guard Cutter Tornado in October 2004. Tornado is one of five 179-foot Cyclone-class Patrol Coastal cutters (PC-179s) transferred to the Coast Guard from the Navy. Tornado rapidly proved ideally-suited for Coast Guard operations as it deployed in support of the Coast Guard counter-drug, alien migrant interdiction, homeland security, and search and rescue missions in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Florida Straits, and Atlantic Ocean.

Northrop Grumman Corporation was selected by the U.S. or during restricted maneuvering. system. manning. weapons and devices. tactical-surveillance system. logistics. company's locations in Annapolis, Md., and Ocean Springs, Miss.

Northrop Grumman Corporation's Electronic Systems sector has appointed Martin P. Simoni site director of its electronics integration facility located on Baltimore, Md. The Ocean Springs organization, part of the Advanced Naval Platforms group within Electronic Systems, designs, integrates and tests ship electronic systems and primarily serves the Gulf Coast shipbuilding industry as a ship electronic systems integrator. The Ocean Springs facility currently has 50 employees, including systems and software engineering personnel, and maintains a limited manufacturing capability for shipboard spares and repairs. Simoni, who joined the company in 1987 as an engineer…

Officials at the Mississippi Department of Transportation have hired a consultant to determine whether to offer free ferry services while the two U.S. 90 bridges destroyed by Hurricane Katrina are rebuilt. Experts from Pacific Marine Technology Services of Bainbridge Island, Wash., are expected to be on the Coast this week. The company, which is to be paid about $50,000, will figure out where and how much it could cost to operate ferries. The Federal Highway Administration will pay for ferry costs, including vessels, crews and dock construction, while the bridges are built, Jackson Clarion Ledger reported. Consultants are to look at areas between Ocean Springs and Biloxi that had been linked by the Biloxi Bay Bridge. They also will investigate places near Bay St.