HII to get Fitzgerald repair contract

By Lee Hudson / August 23, 2017 at 11:07 AM

The Navy recently determined Huntington Ingalls Industries will get a contract to restore the damaged destroyer Fitzgerald (DDG-62).

The service will award the contract before the end of this fiscal year, according to a Navy statement.

"The start date, scope, cost and the time required to fully restore the ship have not yet been determined," the statement reads.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works built the Fitzgerald and the ship was commissioned in 1995. Ingalls Shipbuilding is the only other shipbuilder besides BIW that builds guided missile destroyers.

"Given the complexity of the work and the significant unknowns of the restoration, the Navy determined that only an Arleigh Burke-class shipbuilder could perform the effort," according to the service. "Only HII has the available capacity to restore USS Fitzgerald to full operational status in the shortest period of time with minimal disruption to ongoing repair and new construction work."

Further, the Navy is evaluating proposals to award a contract for the heavy-lift transport of the Fitzgerald from Yokosuka, Japan, to the continental United States.

On June 17, the Fitzgerald was involved in a collision with the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Crystal.
"In addition to the restoration effort, the Navy intends to incorporate previously planned modernization efforts into the availability that were to have taken place at SRF-JRMC Yokosuka in 2019," according to the service.

Ingalls Shipbuilding has a history of repairing damaged Navy ships, including the frigate Stark (FFG-31) and the guided-missile destroyer Cole (DDG-67), according to the company.

"Ingalls and all of its employees regret the tragic circumstances that will bring the ship to Pascagoula," Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said in a statement, "but it is an honor and a privilege to work with the Navy to return the ship to the fleet in the shortest time possible."

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