Navy moves to protect jobs at Louisiana shipyard
Service wants to accelerate procurement schedule at endangered Avondale facility that employs thousands of workers.
In an attempt to preserve competition in the country's dwindling shipbuilding industry, the Navy is taking several steps to make Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Louisiana-based shipyard attractive to a potential buyer.
In July, Northrop Grumman announced plans to shutter the Avondale shipyard in 2013, closing a facility that employees 5,000 skilled workers along the Gulf Coast.
The crux of the Navy's plan, announced Friday by the service's acquisition chief, Sean Stackley, is to accelerate production of the double-hulled fleet of T-AO(X) oilers by launching procurement in 2014 instead of 2017.
The Navy, which now has a fleet of 19 oilers, has not announced how many T-AO(X) vessels it will buy, but officials have said they expect to buy one a year.
By speeding up the production of the oiler, the Navy would enable a buyer of the Avondale shipyard to seek the lucrative contract soon after buying the yard.
Accelerating the program could also ensure there will be competition in the program, which San Diego's NASSCO, a unit of General Dynamics, is expected to make a play for.
"This would allow the Navy to acquire this important capability three years earlier while bringing greater stability and promoting competition in the shipbuilding industry," Stackley said at the Pentagon on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Navy is committed to ensuring that Northrop Grumman completes two LPD amphibious warfare ships "efficiently and affordably" at the Avondale yard, Stackley said. The move also is intended to help Avondale keep its skilled workforce, he said.
Northrop Grumman plans to complete the two LPDs there by 2013, then move its LPD production to its Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.
The Navy also plans to use $10 million from already appropriated emergency funds to pay for apprentice training and higher education in support of the maritime industry and another $6 million for infrastructure improvements at smaller shipyards in Louisiana.
"This is what we're doing for shipbuilding, and there are some benefits for Louisiana," Stackley said. "This is not a commitment to a company," he added.
Louisiana's congressional delegation hailed Friday's announcement, saying it could help save thousands of skilled jobs at the shipyard.
"The Navy's plan offers some hope for saving thousands of good-paying jobs in south Louisiana by attracting a new manufacturer to the Avondale site," Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., said in a statement.