Swiftships Shipbuilding Awarded Iraqi Navy Support Contract
The US Department of Defense informs that Swiftships Shipbuilding, L.L.C., Morgan City, Louisiana, is being awarded an $18,000,000 not-to-exceed contract for the accomplishment of continuous lifecycle support for the Iraqi navy. DoD explains that this contract involves foreign military sales to Iraq, and will provide technical expertise in preventative and planned maintenance, emergent repairs, and platform overhaul support services for Iraqi patrol boats, off-shore vessels, and defender boats. Work will be performed on Umm Qasr Naval Base, Iraq, and is expected to be completed by October 2015. FMS funding in the amount of $9,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and the contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
MSC Delivers Patrol Boat to Iraqi Navy
Military Sealift Command-chartered heavy lift crane ship MV Ocean Titan delivered the second of a new class of U.S.-built patrol boats to Manama, Bahrain. The 115-ft boat is destined for Iraq, where it will be turned over to the Iraqi navy and used primarily to patrol coastal waters and provide security for the country's oil platforms. This is the second of an expected 15 identical vessels being built for and delivered to the Iraqi navy in support of U.S. and Iraqi efforts to reconstitute Iraq's ability to enforce its maritime sovereignty and security. The Iraqi navy acquired the boats as part of the U.S. Navy's Foreign Military Sales Program. "Our foreign partners rely on the U.S. Navy's expertise in combatant craft acquisition," said Rear Adm.
