Damage to BIW rival reinforces need for 2 yards

Hurricane damage to the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Ingalls shipyard on the Mississippi coast underscores the nation’s need for two working shipyards capable of building destroyers and cruisers, Maine’s senators said.

The Ingalls yard in Pascagoula was hit hard by Katrina, which flooded the facility, knocked out power and damaged the hull of a Navy destroyer.

Advocates of Maine’s Bath Iron Works say the damage demonstrates the need for two shipyards to maintain production capacity if one of the yards is disabled.

The two shipyards are competitors, but congressional delegations from both states have opposed the Navy’s proposal for a winner-take-all approach to the next-generation destroyer. Such a policy could drive one of the shipyards out of business.

Shipyard workers, BIW management and the Navy Supervisor of Shipbuilding Office in Bath all pledged Wednesday to mount drives to aid the Mississippi shipyard workers.

BIW spokesman Dirk Lesko said the shipyard is tentatively planning to hold a gate collection drive next Wednesday. Any money collected would be given to the American Red Cross. “People want to do something, but we don’t know what is needed yet,” he said.

An Ingalls company spokesman said the damage from Katrina was so extensive that it could take days before an accurate assessment can be made. The shipyard, which employs 12,000 people, has no electrical power and is completely flooded, said Brian Cullin, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman, which owns Ingalls and three other Gulf Coast facilities.

Much of Ingalls’ heavy equipment, including the massive cranes, withstood the heavy winds. But workers’ homes were destroyed.

“The area around our facilities is devastated,” he said. “We have got people coming back to work who no longer have homes.”

Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe pointed to the damage on the Gulf Coast as another reason for keeping two shipyards.

“The damage done to Ingalls shipyard and the work stoppage due to the storm underscores the need to maintain two working shipyards with the capability to build major surface combatants for our naval fleet,” Snowe said.

“While we do not yet know what the impact of Katrina will be on Ingalls and hope it is minimal, natural disasters, such as Katrina, are one of many reasons why it is crucial to maintain two shipyards,” Collins said.

Machinists Union Local S6 President Mike Keenan also said Katrina’s devastation is another reason for the Navy to keep two shipyards in business.

“Putting the hurricane aside … you never never put all your eggs in one basket,” he said.