January 1, 2005
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Building Freedom … One Great Ship at a Time.
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems’ Avondale Operations is a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) and part of the corporation’s Ship Systems (NGSS) sector.
In addition to Avondale Operations in New Orleans, Louisiana, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, headquartered in Pascagoula, Mississippi, includes Ingalls Operations. NGSS, which currently employs more than 17,000 shipbuilding professionals, primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi, is one of the nation’s leading full service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction, and life cycle support of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and international navies, and for commercial vessels of all types. NGSS has a firm business backlog exceeding $5.6 billion, in a variety of naval and commercial shipbuilding programs.
NGSS’ Avondale Operations, which is located on the banks of the Mississippi River approximately 12 miles upriver from downtown New Orleans, has been in continuous operation since 1938 and is Louisiana’s largest manufacturing employer with more than 6,000 employees.
Avondale has direct access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River and is easily accessed by the nation’s interstate highway system and by rail. Among the most diverse shipbuilders in the U.S. Avondale encompasses 268 acres, including three outfitting docks totaling more than 6,000 linear feet. In addition to the shipyard, Avondale Divisions include the Modular Construction Division and the Steel Sales Division.
Over the years, what began as a small barge repair company grew to become an imposing industrial complex known as Avondale Operations, with the company producing a wide variety of naval and commercial shipbuilding programs.
Avondale is the prime contractor in the LPD 17 Avondale Alliance to design and build 12 of the U.S. Navy’s newest, most technically advanced SAN ANTONIO (LPD 17) Class of amphibious assault ships. The first LPD 17 ship is already under construction at Avondale and the company has been awarded an advanced procurement contract for the fifth and sixth ships in the program, LPD 21 and 22.
Avondale was the lead designer and builder of the WHIDBEY ISLAND (LSD 41) and HARPERS FERRY (LSD-CV) classes of amphibious assault ships, as well as other Navy ships, including the OSPREY (MHC 51) Class minehunters, DE 1037, 1040, 1052, 1078 classes of destroyer escort ships, and the ADAMS (DDG 18) Class guided missile destroyers. The company has also delivered in recent years the USNS WATERS (T-AGS 45) oceanographic survey ship, as well as the USGCC HEALY (W-AGB 20) icebreaker and research ship for the U. S. Coast Guard. In its present military shipbuilding programs, Avondale has delivered the first five of seven BOB HOPE (T-AKR 300) Class Strategic Sealift ships.
Since the mid-1970s, Avondale has delivered more than 40 new, major surface non-combatant ships into the Navy’s fleet, along with several other commercial vessels, including paddlewheel gaming boats and tugs and towboats. In addition, several other naval and commercial ships have returned to Avondale over the years for either “jumboization,” conversions, overhauls or repair jobs. The company also features two floating drydocks, an 80,000-ton drydock and a 20,000-ton drydock.
Avondale continues its innovative edge in high-technology shipbuilding through its world-class Gulfport Facility, located in Gulfport, Mississippi, which, in addition to building units, or modules, for shipbuilding programs, leads in the manufacturing and fabrication of marine composite structures that represent a revolutionary advance in integrated topside design.
Avondale is also continuing its commercial shipbuilding legacy. Avondale is currently under contract to Polar Tankers, Inc., to produce the first U.S.-built double-hulled tankers for carrying crude oil that meet or exceed standards of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and existing and proposed environmental regulations. Avondale delivered the first of five of these MILLENNIUM Class tankers, the Polar Endeavour, in early 2001. These 895-foot-long, 125,000 DWT ships are capable of carrying more than one million barrels of crude oil along the treacherous trade route from Alaska to the U.S. West Coast.
Avondale undertook a major capital improvement program in recent years as part of its commitment to remain technologically advanced and to improve efficiency everywhere in its 265-acre shipyard. The addition of 388,000-sq.-ft. under-roof steel fabrication facility is one such improvement, along with the use of second- generation robots programmed to perform complex welding and steel cutting as part of modular and assembly line production. Avondale has also developed the very latest in state-of-the-art Computer Aided Engineering, Design and Manufacturing tools and utilizes these tools in producing today’s modern ships.
Through a unique partnership, Avondale, the State of Louisiana and the University of New Orleans developed and built the Maritime Technology Center of Excellence on the grounds of Avondale’s main shipyard in New Orleans. The $40 million building houses Avondale’s LPD 17 Alliance, the Avondale Integrated Product Development Environment Technology Division, with its state-of-the-art computer technology, and Avondale’s Engineering Department. In addition, the MTCE houses faculty and students from the University of New Orleans School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
Avondale will continue its technological innovation, as well as rely on its rich history, as it moves further into the next century of shipbuilding.
Also under the Avondale umbrella is NGSS’ Composites Center of Excellence located in Gulfport, Mississippi. The Gulfport Composites Facility is one of the largest, most comprehensive and most experienced composite manufacturing facilities in the United States, utilizing a wide variety of state of the art composites fabrication manufacturing techniques and material systems. The facility is located on a 125 acre waterfront tract, and has over 350,000 square feet of enclosed manufacturing area including over 150,000 square feet of climate controlled area. The NGSS Gulfport facility is in its second decade of composites manufacturing operations, and has a lengthy and successful history in military composites programs including the DD()X 21st century surface combatant program, the SAN ANTONIO (LPD 17) Class of amphibious assault ships, the U.S. Navy’s Coastal Mine Hunter (MHC), CHSV and Lighter Barge Programs, and the USCG Deepwater Program.
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