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Shipbuilders Council of America
20 F Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20001
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SCA Weekly Report | August 19-23, 2019
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Terry O'Brien
Chairman
Shipbuilders Council of America
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I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the 2019 SCA Fall Membership Meeting is rapidly approaching. As of today we are less than 7 weeks out from the meeting and we are on pace for a record turnout, with well over 100 attendees currently registered. We are extremely happy to welcome our new members to the trade association joining us at this meeting including: Heger Dry Dock, Inc., NCP Coatings, Inc., R&P Technologies, Tradepoint Atlantic, and the U.S. Superyacht Association. Also, I want to recognize the companies that will be exhibiting at the meeting; Aerotek, AEU LEAD, ElectraWatch, Gibbs & Cox, MCG Workforce Solutions, National Inspection & Consultants, Radco Industries, Ryzhka International, STI Marine FIrestop, Tradesmen International, Tri-Tec Manufacturing, and Viega. I encourage everyone to get around and see and talk to the exhibitors! There have been successful business partnerships formed between exhibitors and attendees in the past and I hope that trend will continue this year.
SCA has been busy at work over these past few months preparing for the meeting as well as advocating for shipyard industrial base policies in D.C. Our SCA committees have been meeting regularly including the Industry Partners Committee, Cybersecurity Committee, Bylaws Committee, Safety Committee, Workforce Development Committee, Communications Committee and Executive Committees. As a result this work, the Fall meeting is going to be very substantive and productive for the attendees and the trade association. I want to thank all of you that participate in our Committees, it is tremendously important to the success of the Association.
I hope you all have a safe Labor Day, and I look forward to seeing everyone in Newport News.
Terry
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Register Now for the 2019 SCA Fall Membership Meeting
Registration for the 2019 SCA Fall Membership Meeting is still open. The meeting will take place at the Marriott City Center in Newport News, Virginia. Registration for the SCA meeting is $650 per attendee.
A schedule of events can be found HERE.
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Floating Dry Dock Request for Information (RFI) Notice Type: Special Notice
Objective – This Request for Information (RFI) seeks to identify the procurement cost, life cycle cost (maintenance and operational), timeline for construction, lifting and handling capabilities, ballasting control systems for complex lifting and handling functions, mooring requirements, blocking requirements, and structural calculations for a floating dry dock that can dock nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Additionally, the RFI seeks to identify necessary utility requirements for successful docking evolutions of the ship classes noted above and whether U.S. based construction/shipbuilding companies are capable of constructing such floating dry dock.
View the RFI HERE.
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PEO Ships: Navy Prefers Fielding ‘Revolutionary’ Combat Capability Through New Weapons Rather than New Hull Designs
Rear Adm. Bill Galinis, PEO Ships, told the ASNE Fleet Maintenance and Modernization Symposium that the Navy is striving to field “revolutionary combat capability” in new ships and through mid-life modernizations, but it can do so while keeping risk low by focusing on new weapons and systems rather than radical new hull designs. Noting previous challenges with revolutionary ship designs such as the Zumwalt-class destroyer and the Littoral Combat Ship, Rear Adm. Bill Galinis spoke in praise of the “evolutionary” approach that adds new capabilities while still leveraging mature and therefore less risky ship hull designs.
Despite Record Budgets, Navy Says Its Short Hundreds of Millions for Maintenance
The U.S. Navy is short hundreds of millions of dollars for ship depot maintenance this year and is already looking at just shy of $1 billion in unfunded maintenance in 2020, shortfalls that threaten to upend progress toward improved readiness and clearing its maintenance backlog. During a midyear review of 2019 budget spending, the Navy found it had more than $3 billion in emergency costs that needed to be covered, including nearly $1 billion for ship depot maintenance.
Read more HERE.
Navy Says House Appropriator Cuts Would Delay CVN-81
The Navy told Congress this week that proposed cuts to the fiscal year 2020 defense spending bill could result in delays of one to two years for the fourth Gerald Ford-class aircraft carrier and the new MQ-25 unmanned aerial tanker. The service detailed those delays, as well as negative impacts on 48 other Navy and Marine Corps programs, in an undated document newly obtained by Inside Defense. A panel spokesman confirmed to Inside Defense that lawmakers received the document early this week. The appeal can be viewed HERE.
USNI Interview with Adm. Richardson: Reflections on Massive Technology, Readiness Changes
In a wide-ranging interview with USNI News, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Richardson reflected on his tenure and the changes he oversaw. Fundamentally, the U.S. Navy operates in a different world compared to four years ago as the relationship with China has deteriorated. The admiral also reflected on the broad changes in technology and the impact that has had on the Fleet. Read the full article HERE.
RELATED: Military.Com – Vision and Disaster: The Complex Legacy of CNO Adm. John Richardson
Navy Issues Draft RFP for Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle
The Navy has put a call out to industry to send in ideas for its planned fleet of corvette-sized unmanned surface vehicles, according to a draft request for proposal. The draft RFP for the Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle program starts the work of transitioning the effort from the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office two-hull Ghost Fleet into a full-fledged shipbuilding program. The draft comes ahead of a final RFP due out later this year.
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Coast Guard Eyes Expanded Operations in Western Pacific
The U.S Coast Guard is mulling its future in the Asia-Pacific region once the National Security Cutter USCGC Stratton (WMSL-752) completes its current deployment at the end of November. The conversation comes as the Coast Guard and the Navy are exercising with Malaysian forces as part of Maritime Training Activity (MTA) Malaysia 2019. In addition to Stratton, the Navy has sent Littoral Combat Ship USS Montgomery (LCS-8), salvage ship USNS Salvor (ARS-52), expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Millinocket (T-EPF-3), Mobile Dive and Salvage Unit 1, an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. The main challenge for the Coast Guard in the Asia-Pacific is to ensure that its activities and actions achieve the best effect, “The challenge for us is that many of the Pacific Island nations, threats that they face, are the type of things that we as a Coast Guard are postured to address, whether it’s law enforcement, search and rescue, Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, and we view ourselves as the world’s best Coast Guard and we have many friends and partners in the region who we work alongside to continue that engagement,” said region commander Vice Adm. Linda Fagan.
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NIST Delays Cyber Standards for Pentagon Contractors Pending OMB Review
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has delayed the release of cybersecurity standards used by Defense Department contractors, pending the review by the White House's Office of Management and Budget of related standards for protecting the privacy and security of all government data. NIST Special Publication 800-171, Revision 2, "Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations," is on hold "until review cycle completion of SP 800-53 by Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs due to dependencies on SP 800-53," according to the agency's website updated last week. NIST SP 800-171B, which was proposed in June as a "supplement" to address strategic threats from foreign adversaries, is also on hold pending the outcome of OIRA's review of NIST SP 800-53.
Navy Moving to Create Special Cyber Office
The Navy Department will soon create a new office led by a special assistant to the secretary who will have sweeping authority to integrate and manage the critical areas of information management and security, aided by four deputies responsible for buying the right technology, determining strategies to better handle digital information and data and to enforce greater cybersecurity within the naval services and industrial suppliers. Creation of the new office resulted from an independent review Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer ordered last year after some significant cybersecurity breaches in the Navy’s industrial base, Modly told reporters at the Pentagon. That review “pretty forcefully recommended we should organize differently to address this particular threat.”
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Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Attracts $159 Million in High Bids
Earlier this week, Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 253 in New Orleans generated over $159 million in high bids for 151 tracts covering 835,000 acres in federal waters. Twenty-seven companies participated in the lease sale, submitting approximately $175 million in bids. Revenues received from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leases (including high bids, rental payments and royalty payments) are directed to the U.S. Treasury, certain Gulf Coast states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama), the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Historic Preservation Fund.
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Maritime Administrator Details Priorities for His Agency at Navy League Breakfast
Seapower – Richard Burgess – 21 August 2019
The man in charge of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) laid out his priorities for the agency in a speech that included course corrections for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, shoring up the Ready Reserve Force and defending the Jones Act. Maritime Administrator Mark Buzby, a retired Navy rear admiral, spoke Aug. 21 in Arlington at a breakfast sponsored by the Navy League of the United States and his first priority was getting the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy “back on track.” He said the academy had been on a “not good course for the last few years” with some leadership problems, including sexual harassment issues. He said the new superintendent, Rear Adm. Jack Buono, and the new academic dean, John R. Ballard, were a “dynamic duo [that] really turned things around.”
Honolulu has a bright future if we all work together
NOQ Report – David Ware – 22 August 2019
Where we are now is neither where we were in the not so long ago past nor where we want to be in the near future. Let’s look at the kind of community we want to provide and leave for our children and grandchildren.Imagine a world in which all shipping restrictions have been ended. The Jones Act was eliminated by President’s Executive Order or Class Action Law Suit by Honolulu City and County Residents. Hawaii will be free of the century-old legislation which has caused sky-high consumer prices here in these islands.
Overseas boat building
WaterLine – Capt. Ralph Allen – 22 August 2019
Shipbuilders don’t build many big ships in the U.S. More and more small boats being purchased in this country are being built overseas. Millions of U.S. citizens are spending their money on foreign cruise ships, and in some cases foreign ports are selected in place of U.S. ports for the passengers to go ashore and spend more of their money. Does it sound like the Jones Act is really protecting our interests?
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Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding to Construct LNG Barge for U.S. East Coast Market
Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding has been selected to construct an LNG barge to serve the U.S. east coast market. The vessel will be constructed at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding’s facility in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The newbuild LNG barge will be operated by Polaris New Energy (“PNE”), a new marine transportation company set up by NorthStar Midstream, a portfolio company of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. The new company will specialize in the transportation and distribution of liquefied natural gas (LNG) along coastal and inland waterways of the United States.
Joint Industry Guidance Released on 2020 Low Sulfur Fuel
A group of shipping, refining, fuel supply and standards organizations have worked together to produce Joint Industry Guidance on the supply and use of 0.50 percent sulfur fuel. The publication is designed to provide guidance for stakeholders across the marine fuels and shipping industries, from fuel blenders and suppliers to end users. It presents the specific safety and operational issues relating to the supply and use of max. 0.50 percent sulfur fuels, an overview of fuel quality principles, and the controls that should be put in place to ensure that safety issues are identified, prevented and/or mitigated. The guidance can be found HERE.
Sea Machines Tests Autonomous Skimming Vessel with MARAD
Sea Machines says it has successfully tested its autonomous technology in marine oil-spill response operations as part of a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). The Boston-based autonomous marine tech company carried out the tests on Wednesday in Portland, Maine utilizing a Marine Spill Response Corp. (MSRC)-owned MARCO skimming vessel equipped with one of Sea Machines’ SM300 autonomous-command systems. The on-water demonstrations took place before an audience of representatives from MARAD, government, naval, international, environmental and industry.
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Paula Zorensky on the SCA staff.
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