Navy’s New Shipbuilding Schedule Could Stabilize Work at BIW

By Edward D. Murphy, Portland Press Herald, Maine

Jul. 27–The Navy is thinking about juggling the construction schedule for its next class of destroyers, a move that could help stabilize work at Bath Iron Works in Maine.

Navy officials have been talking about scheduling for the DDG 1000 Zumwalt class with officials at BIW and Northrop Grumman, which has a shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. The two yards are set to make the “co-lead” ships of the new class of destroyer, with construction expected to start next year.

In the past, one yard or the other normally would be designated the lead builder, but this new approach allows both to claim equal credit for spearheading the new class of ship.

The original plans called for Northrop Grumman to start construction on the ship it is building first, meaning it would also be first to receive equipment such as engines and weapons systems.

Lt. Cmdr. John Schofield, a Navy spokesman, said the discussions on the schedule are driven by a number of factors, including workloads at the two shipyards, and the Navy may still leave intact its decision to have Northrop Grumman start first. He also said there’s no deadline for a decision but noted that the ship contracts are expected to be completed by the fall and presumably the Navy would prefer a firm schedule by then.

For BIW, the change would mean that work would start on the new destroyer early next year instead of during the last few months of 2008. That would close a gap in work between the last of the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers currently being built at Bath, and construction of the Zumwalt class destroyer.

Jim DeMartini, a spokesman for BIW, noted that past construction schedules have provided an overlap of work for the shipyard, allowing workers handling one part of the job to move quickly to the same job on the next ship. That overlap isn’t expected to exist this time if work on the DDG 1000 doesn’t start until late next year, he said.

Bill Glenn, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, referred questions about the Zumwalt class of destroyers to the Navy.

Workers at BIW hope the schedule is changed, said Mike Keenan, president of local S6 of the machinists union at the shipyard.

“All around, it’s a very positive thing,” Keenan said. The Pascagoula shipyard’s workload “is stable and here, we’ve got a gap in the schedule that we need to close.” Keenan said that if the gap isn’t closed, it could lead to layoffs, but DeMartini said work levels can’t be predicted until the schedule is set.

Late last month, Navy Secretary Donald Winter blasted Northrop Grumman over the quality of the lead ship in the Navy’s new class of amphibious ships, saying it had “serious quality problems.” He said the problems with those ships raise “grave concerns” about Northrop Grumman’s ability to manage the new destroyer program, but Schofield said those comments aren’t related to the decision to look at scheduling.

Navy plans call for up to seven of the new class of destroyers, which will cost about $3 billion each. Congress has so far provided funding for the first two.

BIW is one of Maine’s largest employers, with about 5,600 workers. It is a subsidiary of General Dynamics.

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