By Troy Turner
The U.S. Navy has awarded Alabama Shipyard LLC a nearly $17 million contract for the deactivation of Military Sealift Command’s fleet oiler vessel USNS John Ericsson, which is expected to be formally removed from service in July.
The contract calls for a 98-calendar day shipyard availability and includes a base work package and three unexercised options for additional work and time, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative value of the contract to almost $17.2 million.
Work will be performed in Mobile beginning Feb. 28 and is expected to be completed by June 5.
Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting agency.
Alabama Shipyard is located at the mouth of the Mobile River and specializes in providing maintenance, repair, overhaul, conversion and shipbreaking services to commercial and government markets. The company remains involved with multiple Navy contracts. (See story links below.)
The USNS John Ericsson
The almost 35-year-old USNS John Ericsson is the fourth U.S. Navy ship named in honor of John Ericsson, a Swedish-born American engineer and inventor who perfected the screw propeller and constructed radically designed warships, notably the Civil War-era ironclad Monitor, but also the first named John Ericsson, according to Navy records.
The current ship John Ericsson (T-AO-194) was laid down on 15 March 1989 at Chester, Pa., by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., and launched on 21 April 1990. She entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the Military Sealift Command with a mostly civilian crew on 18 March 1991, and served primarily in the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Among the notable events on the ship’s service record, the John Ericsson in March of 2014 was sent to help with refueling and logistics connected with the USS Pinckney’s role assisting in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
The Boeing 777-200ER was a scheduled international passenger flight that disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, China. The Pinckney was diverted from a training mission in the South China Sea to help search for signs of the missing aircraft.
The John Ericsson provided service to the Pinckney and its MH-60R Seahawk helicopters during the effort.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected]. His bio can be found here.
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