Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2016)

GREAT SHIPS OF 2016 (Photos: General Dynamics NASSCO)

Perla Del Caribe for TOTE Constitution for SEA-VISTA LLC Independence for SEA-VISTA LLC

General Dynamics NASSCO Enjoys a Record Year

San Diego yard delivers a ‘6-pack’ in 2016: 5 tankers, 1 container ship

General Dynamics NASSCO ? ts a lot of activity on its 86 acres, a shipyard which deftly balances commercial and navy work, newbuild and repair. Last month we visited with Kevin Mooney, Vice President, Programs and Supply Chain Man- agement, for his insights on how NASSCO delivered a record six ships in 2016. By Greg Trauthwein

While many global shipbuilding entities suffer The Containerships through the worst new build drought in a generation, From the time the contract was announced, the

General Dynamics NASSCO logged a record year for quest to build the world’s ? rst LNG fuelled contain- deliveries in 2016 and gearing up for two major new erships was monitored closely by the world. “From a build programs. “This has been a historic year for shipbuilding performance perspective, when we built

NASSCO,” said Mooney, the man in charge of new- the LNG containerships (for TOTE), that was a case build programs and the entire supply chain manage- where we had to do some things we had never done ment. “In the ? rst six months of this year we have de- before,” said Mooney. For example the ships sport a livered six ships, the most we have ever had.” large main engine which had to be shipped over from

Mooney is an industry veteran with more than 30 Korea in three pieces and assemble it in the yard, on years experience, 20 years spent in the U.S. Navy as the ship. Mooney also pointed out that “dimensional an of? cer on a nuclear submarine, the last 10 plus years control for containerships is absolutely critical, with at NASSCO serving many roles while ascending the the cell guides for the containers and the hatch covers. corporate ladder. He summarized the yard’s workload Our accuracy was as close to perfect as you can be. We as such: had zero leakage on the hatch covers, and when we put • NASSCO is ? nishing an eight ship tanker program, containers up and down on the cell guides, we had zero with number seven and eight coming by mid-2017. rework throughout our cell guide testing. We are really • NASSCO completed a program for TOTE, the con- proud of those ships.” struction of the world’s ? rst two LNG containerships.

• NASSCO recently won a contract to build two new Heavy Metal

Kevin Mooney

ConRo ships for Matson. All of this shipbuilding activity demands steel, and • It recently started building the fourth ship, and in just delivered Constitution, the sixth ship in the class, lots of it. early 2017 will start building the ? fth and last ship for our ? fth tanker delivered this year,” said Mooney. The According to Mooney, in 2015 and 2016 the shipyard the U.S. Navy ESB program. tankers are being built for two owners, American Pe- processed more than 60,000 tons of steel per year, a • It was contracted by the U.S. Navy to design and troleum Tankers (APT) (owned by Kinder Morgan) and nearly 3x increase from 2014. NASSCO, like most build six (one ? rm, ? ve options) oilers for the ? eet, the SEA-Vista LLC. shipyards, is in perpetual investment mode, ? xing, up-

TAO program. The contract will likely include 17 ships “By June of next year the tanker program will be dating and ? nding new technology to make its opera- in total. Construction on the ? rst ship starts in 2018. complete, and we will have delivered eight tankers over tions more ef? cient. To that end, the company broke • NASSCO is conducting studies for the navy on an a period of about a year and a half.” ground earlier this year on a new Prime Line, “a gate- amphibious ship series, the LXR program. From a construction standpoint, the eight ships in the way piece of equipment for the shipyard” that Mooney • Last, but certainly not least, NASSCO is gearing up ECO Tanker series are similar to a tanker series NASS- said will operate about 30 percent faster processing to compete for the new United States Coast Guard Po- CO built 10 years ago, said Mooney. But from a ship steel, improving its blast and paint quality, giving the lar Icebreaker construction contract. capability standpoint, “these ships are signi? cantly bet- ability to handle larger plates and eliminating nearly all ter,” pointing to a better main engine, better hull form sources of emission. The new Prime Line will be en-

The Tankers and a more ef? cient propulsion system – up to 30% hanced with an investment in a new crane in the steel- “Our ECO tanker program is winding down, as we more ef? cient – as points of differentiation. yard to be replaced.

40 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • DECEMBER 2016

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