US Navy 101202-N-9643K-958 The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) is in dry dock at NASSCO Shipyard

NASSCO or (National Steel and Shipbuilding Company) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics, that builds ships in San Diego, CA. It is the last full Service shipyard on the west cost and provides new ship construction, overhaul, and upgrades for the US Navy and, commercial customers. The shipyard maintains and repairs all facets of large, ocean-bound military and commercial surface ships.[1] .

NASSCO Delivers Environmentally Friendly Tankers edit

NASSCO has delivered four Alaska class oil tankers with the first being the Alaskan Frontier completed on August 2004 and the last Alaskan Legend completed on August 14, 2006. Along with their other two sister ships, the Alaskan Explorer and Alaskan Navigator]], they can hold 1.3 million barrels of crude oil individually[2]. These amazing ships that NASSCO produce, earned there the title of being the most environmental friendly tankers in the world for many reasons. The Alaska-Class takers have a double hull construction that has been designed for a life of 35 years and their deck structure has a life of 50 years[3]. The Alaska-Class ships use state of the art technologies, such as diesel-electric propulsion system, with redundant engines, shafts and screws[2]. They also have all of their cargo transferring pipes inside the hull rather on its decks to reduce the chance of accidental spills[2]. The Alaska-Class ships also use sea-water shaft seas instead of oil, to minimize any chances of oil leaking in to the waters it sails[3].

NASSCO Receives Pollution Prevention Award edit

In 2002 NASSCO participated in the National Pollution Prevention Week and was presented the award in 2003[4] . The goal of this program is to make businesses, government agencies and citizens/ consumers more aware of opportunities to prevent pollution and provide the resources and information to successfully implement pollution prevention week[5]. NASSCO was presented to award after successfully implementing a program that improved pollution prevention in the shipyard by training employees, subcontractors and suppliers[4].

NASSCO and the Jones Act edit

Foreign countries subsidize their shipbuilding operations up to 30% of construction costs, where as the United States does not[6] . As a result the American ship building industry relies on Jones Act to produce ships in a subsidized market. The Jones Act states, that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents[7]. NASSCO, as of 2006, has built and delivered more Jones Act ships than any other shipyards in the United States[8]. NASSCO was awarded a $1 billion contract in 2006 with U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. to build nine product carrier tankers. This contract was made as a result of the Jones Act requirement, that stops foreign ships from traveling to a US port form another. NASSCO and other shipyards rely on the Jones Act to maintain Businesses in an unfair market.

NASSCO-Norfolk edit

On October 31, 2011 General Dynamics-NASSCO acquired Metro Machine Corp, a leading east coast surface-ship repair company that supports the U.S. Navy fleet in Norfolk, Va[9]. Shortly after purchasing the shipyard, NASSCO renamed it as NASSCO-Norfolk. The shipyard has the newest Drydock in the country which comes equipped with two auto-start generators, automated ballast control system and automated ship hauling and centering system.[10]. NASSCO-Norfolk has been conducting US Navy ship repair and conversions since 1972 and will continue to do so with its impressive new Drydock.

Reference List edit

  1. ^ "NASSCO Holdings Incorporated". Overview. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  2. ^ a b c General Dynamics. "General Dynamics NASSCO Holds Naming Ceremony for Final BP Tanker". Press Release Detail. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  3. ^ a b "NASSCO delivers the double-hull oil tanker alaskan navigator to BP oil shipping company". PR Newswire. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  4. ^ a b "NASSCO receives pollution prevention award from california EPA". article. PR Newswire. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. ^ Department of Toxic Substances Control. National Pollution Prevention Week. HarperCollins. ISBN 9501385956222. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid prefix (help)
  6. ^ Harris, Fred. "The Jones Act: a national economic and strategic imperative". Article. Gale Group Inc. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  7. ^ Whitehurst, Clinton (1985). American domestic shipping in American ships : Jones Act costs, benefits, and options. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. ISBN 0844711020.
  8. ^ "General dynamics NASSCO and U.S. shipping partners L.P. finalize $1 billion contract to build nine tankers". Article. PR Newswire. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  9. ^ General Dynamics NASSCO. "U.S. NAVY REPAIR". article. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  10. ^ NASSCO-Norfolk. "Facilities". powerpoint. Retrieved 16 April 2012.