A US Navy destroyer recently completed undergoing builder's sea trials while one of her sister ships has been formally named. Construction meanwhile continues on a new Chinese hospital ship intended for deployment as far away as the Middle East and South America.
Huntington Ingalls Industries' (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has completed conducting builder's sea trials of the future US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ted Stevens.
The trials were conducted over several days in the Gulf of America, and tested the ship’s engineering, navigation, and combat systems to ensure readiness for the future acceptance trials and eventual delivery to the US Navy.
China's Zhejiang Hongsheng Shipbuilding has floated out a new hospital ship ordered by the Beijing Pinglan Public Welfare Foundation.
Classed by China Classification Society, Pinglan is the first privately-owned Chinese hospital ship to be capable of open-ocean navigation. The vessel will be deployed to Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to provide medical assistance and transport disaster relief aid as needed.
The US Navy formally named the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Louis H. Wilson Jr. in a ceremony at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works' shipyard in Maine on Saturday, September 27.
The future Louis H. Wilson Jr. is the first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built in the flight III configuration at Bath Iron Works. Flight III destroyers will have improved capability and capacity to perform anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defence in support of the integrated air and missile defence mission.
The US Coast Guard has awarded a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract to North River Boats of Roseburg, Oregon, for the supply of up to 66 cutter boats to support aids to navigation (ATON) and other missions.
The contract, awarded under a total small-business set aside, has a potential value of about $11.8 million.
Turkey's Dearsan Shipyard recently held a steel-cutting ceremony to mark the start of construction of a new mine countermeasures (MCM) vessel slated for the Turkish Navy.
The vessel has been given the official designation yeni nesil mayın avlama gemisi ("next-generation minehunting vessel"). Upon completion, it will be capable of deploying unmanned surface vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles for MCM missions.