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SCA Weekly Report | September 5-9, 2022
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2022 SCA FALL MEETING REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
Registration for the 2022 SCA Fall Membership Meeting is now open. The meeting will be held at the Warwick Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, PA on October 12-13, 2022. Register Here.
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ROOMBLOCK CLOSES MONDAY
The room block for the 2022 Shipbuilders Council of America Fall Membership Meeting closes on Monday, September 12, 2022.
SCA has reserved rooms at the Warwick Rittenhouse Square at a preferred room rate of $349 per night. CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR ROOM
EXHIBITION HALL
The exhibition hall encourages greater interaction between SCA shipyard and partner members, offering the opportunity for members to demonstrate their product or services directly to potential customers.
If you are interested in exhibiting at this event, please review the Exhibitor Packet HERE.
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OSHA #5410 Course Registration Now Available: Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Maritime Industry
Dates: 10/10/2022 - 10/14/2022
Provider: Volunteer State Community College
Platform: Video Conference
This course covers OSHA policies, procedures, and standards for the maritime industry. Using the OSHA Maritime Standards as a guide, special emphasis is placed on those areas in the maritime industry which are most hazardous. Upon course completion students will define maritime terms found in the OSHA Maritime Standards, identify hazards in the maritime industry and determine appropriate controls and abatement, locate OSHA Maritime Standards, policies and procedures, and describe the use of the OSHA Maritime Standards and regulations to supplement an ongoing safety and health program.
For more information, CLICK HERE.
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Spending Bill Leads Congress’ September Agenda
Lawmakers are laying out their major priorities for the rest of the 117th Congress as they face imminent deadlines, including to extend government spending by Sept. 30.
A continuing resolution will be needed to begin the new fiscal year — though a host of policy riders, including language to streamline federal permitting for energy projects, could complicate final action. The White House also asked Congress to provide additional funding for a slew of priorities, most notably Covid-19 and Ukraine.
While the House passed its annual defense policy bill in July, Senate leaders haven’t announced plans to vote on their version, but are aiming to enact a compromise by the end of the year. In both chambers, lawmakers have pledged floor time for legislation, including a bill to address electoral vote disputes, and another to federally recognize same-sex marriage.
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White House to Nominate Nickolas Guertin as ASN RDA
Late last week, the White House announced that Nickolas Guertin, the current Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), will be nominated to be assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition (RDA). The director of DOT&E reports directly to both Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Deputy Defense Secretary Kath Hicks. He was confirmed for the job in December.
The RDA job has been vacant for more than a year and half and is currently overseen by both the former chief of staff to Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro, Tommy Ross, and career Navy civil servant Jay Stefany. Ross has been “performing the duties” of the RDA since early May, however Stefany has been responsible for some of the responsibilities of the job, including testifying before Congress, since del Toro appointed Ross for the role.
If nominated, Guertin would be the first permanent RDA since James “Hondo” Geurts left the role at the end of the Trump administration.
Prior to DOT&E director, Guertin worked in the office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (DASN RDT&E) from 2011 to 2016 and for more than a decade as a a submarine engineer for Naval Sea Systems Command throughout his career.
Pentagon Exploring Policies to Grant Defense Contractors Inflation Relief
Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante said this week he is planning to soon release updated policy guidance aimed at "loosening" contracting regulations to provide inflation relief to defense contractors, especially small suppliers working under firm, fixed-price contracts (FFPs).
LaPlante, who spoke at a conference hosted by Defense News, said his new inflation guidance is currently being vetted by military service acquisition executives and is expected to be released in the coming days, thus updating the department’s position on FFPs, which are currently not eligible for “economic price adjustments.”
LaPlante said he is especially concerned about small companies in the defense supply chain operating under FFPs, which includes many of the Pentagon’s development programs.
“Most suppliers to primes, or anybody else, or with the government -- they’re on FFP-type contracts,” he said. “Well, if you’re an FFP contract that was signed in 2020, it’s got to suck when it’s 2022 and inflation is 11%. I’m worried about the small supplier who is on a firm, fixed-price contract, has got 50 employees and all of a sudden is dealing with inflation. We don’t want those companies to go out of business. The good news is everybody is on this.”
LaPlante said his office is looking to “loosen or broaden the definition” of what an economic price adjustment clause can be used for if DOD takes into consideration the “extraordinary circumstance” of ongoing inflation. “This is not typical inflation,” he said. “This is something different. We’re not at the answer yet but we need to get there.”
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Franchetti Sworn in as new Vice Chief of Naval Operations
Adm. Lisa Franchetti assumed the duties of vice chief of naval operations on Friday, as she takes over the role from Adm. William Lescher, who is set to retire.
A career surface warfare officer, Franchetti was recently head of the J5 Strategic Plans and Policy on the Joint Staff. She first commissioned into the Navy in 1985 through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at Northwestern University, according to her biography.
At sea, Franchetti has served aboard USS Shenandoah (AD-44), USS Monongahela (AO-178), USS Moosbrugger (DD-980), USS Stout (DD-55) and the George Washington Carrier Strike Group. She commanded USS Ross (DDG-71) and Destroyer Squadron 21 while the DESRON was embarked on USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). She also was the commander of Pacific Partnership 2010, during which she was embarked on USNS Mercy (T-AH-19).
Franchetti is the second woman to have the number two position in the Navy. Adm. Michelle Howard, who became the first female four-star admiral and first Black woman to hold the position, became the first woman to serve as VCNO in 2014. Howard, who had many firsts in her career, is now leading the Naming Commission, which is in charge of recommending new names for military infrastructure with ties to the Confederacy.
Several defense officials have told news outlets over the last several months that Franchetti is likely to follow Gilday to lead the Navy when he retires in 2023.
Marine Corps Commandant Previews Next Budget Request
The U.S. Marine Corps’ next budget will likely emphasize systems for secure data transfer, organic mobility and logistics, its No. 2 officer said, reflecting remaining challenges two and a half years into the service’s modernization effort.
Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith said the service has, since the spring 2020 release of Force Design 2030, made the most progress on long-range precision fires. It had demonstrated its use of the Naval Strike Missile and the Tomahawk anti-ship missile from atop a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle.
Asked about spending priorities in the fiscal 2024 budget request set for release this spring, Smith said the service will focus on transporting data in a secure manner, as well as organic mobility and logistics, while sustaining the force.
On organic mobility, the Marines have spent recent years significantly investing in the aviation portfolio, much of which is applicable to the kinds of small-unit operations Smith described in the discussion. The CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter, the KC-130J transport and refueling plane, and the MV-22 tiltrotor will help Marines move around a theater without relying on the Navy or other armed services.
But an important aspect of organic mobility is the light amphibious warship, something the Corps wanted to start buying in FY22. But the effort was delayed over a tight Navy shipbuilding budget.
Smith said the Marines require up to 35 of the vessels so Marines in the Pacific can move with little notice to strategic locations “before the action begins, in order to conduct sea denial as part of distributed maritime operations.”
He said a key feature of the ships will be their ability to beach themselves — more akin to a landing craft than a ship — to make them harder for the enemy to target. If the Marines arrive on a ship that needs a deep port, an adversary can focus its surveillance on the limited number of deep-water ports in a region; if the Marines can beach themselves along any shoreline, finding them becomes immensely more difficult, he explained.
Read more HERE.
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Rhode Island Seeks Feedback on Draft Offshore Wind RFP
Governor Dan Mckee has opened a 30-day public comment period about Rhode Island Energy’s draft request for proposals (RFP) for creating more offshore wind energy in the state. Rhode Island Energy, the state’s primary utility, is administering the RFP and will issue the procurement to the market no later than 15 October, McKee’s office said.
In July, Governor McKee signed into law clean energy legislation that seeks to expand Rhode Island’s offshore wind energy resources. The new law requires a market-competitive procurement for between 600 and 1,000 MW of newly developed offshore wind capacity. The project could meet at least 30 per cent of Rhode Island’s estimated 2030 electricity demand and power about 340,000 homes each year.
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Eastern Shipbuilding Delivers Third and Final Staten Island Ferry
Recently, Eastern Shipbuilding Group completed the third and final Ollis-class Staten Island Ferry for the city of New York. The new ferry has seating for up to 2,551 and a maximum passenger capacity of 4,500.
“It has been an honor for our company to build the three Ollis-class Staten Island ferries for the citizens of New York City marking a bold new chapter in the Staten Island Ferry’s 200-year-old legacy of public transportation,” Joey D’Isernia, president of Eastern, said in a statement announcing the completion of the contract. “These cutting edge ferries are now the premier vessels of the world's busiest passenger-only ferry system that has reliably served the people of New York, New Jersey, and the millions of tourists New York City welcomes each year. With the delivery of the Ollis class, ESG is proud to continue this time-honored tradition for decades to come.”
Interlake Steamship Christens First New U.S.-Flagged Laker in Nearly 40 Years
The Interlake Steamship Company held a christening ceremony in Cleveland on Thursday for its new vessel, Mark W. Barker, the first U.S.-flagged freighter built on the Great lakes in nearly four decades. Built at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, WI, the 639-foot vessel was made from iron ore mined in Minnesota by Cleveland-Cliffs, and carried on U.S.-built, U.S.-crewed, and U.S.-owned Lakers to Cleveland-Cliffs’ Burns Harbor mill in Indiana. There the pellets were forged into steel plates and shipped to the Wisconsin shipyard. “This American-made vessel is not only a veritable Great Lakes success story, it is a Cleveland ship, through and through,” said Chairman James R. Barker.
Port of LA Receives $20M DOT Grant to Clear Trucking Bottleneck
The U.S. Federal Government recently announced a $20 million grant to the Port of Los Angeles in its ongoing effort to enhance infrastructure to strengthen the supply chain. The project seeks to free a key bottleneck for trucks in the San Pedro port complex and improve access to the interstate highway system. It is anticipated that when the project is completed, the new rail-roadway will connect trucks directly to the highway system in two directions, resulting in a reduction of 2,500 truck-hour delays daily; a decrease of more than 3,000 metric tons of emissions per year; and a reduction of 1,200 truck miles traveled per day.
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the SCA staff.
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