Page 26: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2014)

26 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • DECEMBER 2014

SHIPBUILDING

G eneral Dynamics National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. – NASSCO – has quietly become the face of U.S. shipbuilding, deftly balancing a newbuild and repair workload with the U.S. Navy while simultaneously amassing arguably the strongest commercial orderbook, a com- mercial backlog which includes eight tankers and two container- ships, the latter being the world’s fi rst LNG-fuelled containerships for TOTE. “To me the key is having that ‘open kimono’ approach with the customer,” said Graney in explaining how NASSCO is able to juggle a navy and commercial workload in the same facility, a feat that many shipbuilders have tried and failed. “Whether they are government or commercial customers, it’s about getting the details nailed down as soon as possible.”

As any shipbuilder can attest, money is made or lost in the plan- ning stage, with changes to the ship growing more costly with each passing day. That’s why Graney is particularly proud of the company’s performance on the U.S. Navy’s Mobile Landing Plat- form (MLP), two of which are delivered with the third variant fl oated out early last month. “There were a lot of commercial best practices that we incor- porated into the MLP program and it worked great,” said Graney. “So here we are, we have a lead ship – a navy lead ship – deliv- ered with only 2.5% re-work, which is unheard of in the Navy: fi xed price, on schedule, under budget. So we took a commercial model, applied it on the government side and made it work.”

While the MLP – Lewis B. Puller – is the third in the series, in some respects it has lead ship qualities as it is designated MLP 3 / AFSB, the fi rst to be equipped with a fl ight deck, a hangar and accommodations for about 250 people. This variant is designed to conduct mine countermeasure warfare with the Navy, with space available to support special ops.

The third ship’s fl exibility and affordability comes courtesy of its fl ight deck, a fl ight deck which is geared towards helicopters, but can also support as many as four MV22’s, according to a re- cent study of the space. So with its lift capacity, fl exibility and price tag, the ship is viewed as a tremendous value for the invest- ment. “The MLP is really like the Ford F150 pick-up truck; you can put anything you want in the bed; in this case we put a fl ight deck on it,” said Graney. “It is a versatile platform, and it’s exciting for us because the demand signal looks in our favor. This was a three- ship program a few years ago; we’re in the process of negotiating the fourth ship; and this year the Navy put in a fi fth ship. We’re keeping our fi ngers crossed on that fi fth ship.”

The TOTE Ships

The pair of LNG-fuelled containerships being built for TOTE dominate the San Diego shipyard, both being built on the yard’s incline shipbuilding ways. At the time of our visit in mid-Novem- ber, the ships were 72% and 33% completed, respectively. “I can’t believe how quickly that ship is coming together,” said

Graney. “Last week we lifted 3000 tons in the shipyard, most of that on the TOTE ships; which is the most steel blocks that we have erected in a week.”

Graney said that DSME – the Korean builder with whom

NASSCO has had a close relationship with for nearly a decade – “thought we were nuts” for building these ships on the incline ways, because being perfectly square is crucially important when building a containership, and throwing in a 2.5 degree angle is not the optimal build solution. But the shipyard’s graving dock, which was designed for the construction of tankers and is relatively shal- low, was not suited for the ships, so the choice was made. Graney

Above: The fi rst of two LNG-fuelled containerships for TOTE is being built on the incline shipbuilding ways at NASSCO.

Below: One of two of the massive LNG fuel tanks for the ship.

Photos: Gr eg T rauthwein

Photos: Gr eg T rauthwein

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