• Beam: 105 feet, 8 inches
• Draft: 35 feet, 9 inches
• Displacement: 65,000 long tons
• Speed: 24.0 knots
• Organization: Surge
• Civilian: 30
• Military: 0
Posted on 02/22/2006 11:23:59 PM PST by demlosers
June 24, 1997, ABU DHABI, U.A.E. -- Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) has completed repairs on the U.S. military transport ship USNS Gordon, its first contract for work on a U.S. Navy vessel since the shipyard was established approximately one year ago.
ADSB received the contract from Newport News Shipbuilding (NYSE: NNS), Newport News, Virginia, USA, a major shareholder in ADSB. The Gordon repair project involved completion of warranty work for the U.S. Military Sealift Command vessel during its recent visit to the Arabian Gulf.
The USNS Gordon recently underwent a major conversion by Newport News from a standard container ship to a sophisticated, roll-on roll-off vessel for use by the U.S. Military Sealift Command. The converted ship was delivered in August, 1996 at the Newport News facilities in the U.S. and is presently in the Gulf on its maiden voyage. Like any newly delivered vessel, a number of machinery and equipment items needed adjustment or maintenance after their initial operating period. Since Newport News personnel provide both the executive and technical management services for ADSB, the Abu Dhabi company was a logical choice to complete this warranty work.
ADSB completed the repairs while the ship was docked in Jebel Ali Port, about 50 miles north of Abu Dhabi. A team of ADSB specialists and supervisors was dispatched to Jebel Ali from the company’s Abu Dhabi location and worked for several weeks to complete the required work on the vessel.
"We believe the U.S. Navy personnel on the Gordon were well pleased with our work and we intend to pursue additional opportunities with this particular customer in the future," said Rocky Holliday, ADSB’s managing director.
The work involved a number of electrical, machinery and welding-related items discovered during the ship’s initial deployment. NNS sent a technical representative to the Jebel Ali Port where he stayed during the entire job to coordinate between the two companies and interface with the U.S. Navy customer. ADSB’s knowledge of U.S. Navy equipment and procedures greatly facilitated the work and reduced the expected repair time.
Besides the actual warranty work, ADSB also coordinated the receipt of materials provided by Newport News, provided access to the port, and supervised several subcontractors. ADSB was also able to procure additional required materials from its local vendor list. The ADSB team worked closely with the ship’s crew to provide maintenance services on a number of different systems, often while they were still operating, to avoid shutting down main electrical power and critical equipment.
ADSB began operations in mid-1996 after a very successful public stock offering in the United Arab Emirates. In July of last year, ADSB bought an existing, small shipyard just outside of Abu Dhabi. The company is currently building, refitting, and repairing vessels at this existing site while a new, much larger shipyard facility is being designed and constructed at a location nearby. Newport News currently has a team of 16 employees permanently located in Abu Dhabi providing both executive and technical management for the new company.
"This was ADSB’s first opportunity to provide support for U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf," said Holliday. "Now that the U.S. Navy has worked with us and seen what our local NNS personnel are able to do, I’m hopeful that ADSB will be able to provide repair and maintenance services for other U.S. Navy ships deployed in the region."
Newport News Shipbuilding is America's largest ship design and construction company. It has produced approximately 800 ships during its 111 years of operations - including Navy aircraft carriers, submarines, and cruisers. The company is currently building the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and has begun work in preparation for construction of the Navy's New Attack Submarine. It is also building nine Double Eagle product tankers. Its 1996 revenues totaled $1.87 billion, with earnings before interest and taxes of $140 million. The current backlog is approximately $3.3 billion. The workforce numbers 18,000, making it Virginia's largest private employer.
dickseski_jf@nns.com
This is an old press release but it's news that's relevant today.
Info Ping.
I guess we trust them with the lives of our military but not with the rest of us.
ping
ABU DHABI AHHHH that sounds like a arab name! Im against this WTF are we doing! /sarcasm
In a few minutes the usual suspects will be here to dowse you in lighter fluid and set you a blaze :-)
If I'm reading this correctly, the contractor is a company, not the UAE government. And the contractor has no control over global shipping manifests. Etc. etc. etc. (See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1583769/posts?q=1&&page=1#1)
Yep!
But expect to be attacked by the people who just two days ago discovered their love for Arab nations.
We should not be doing the former either..
Time to reinspect those welds and look for hidden explosives.
So an UAE shipbuilding company has worked on our US Navy ships. If the US military trusts the UAE having access to our war ships, then why not our port terminals?
This is an old press release but it's news that's relevant today.
Who are running many of the U.S. Navy supply vessels???
9 years old, that would be during Clinton.
Yes, but it is an UAE company...so the only objections is because DP World is government own? I heard it's a private company that is heavily subsidized by the UAE government. The same way the EU subsidizes Airbus.
From article: "ADSB completed the repairs while the ship was docked in Jebel Ali Port, about 50 miles north of Abu Dhabi. A team of ADSB specialists and supervisors was dispatched to Jebel Ali from the company’s Abu Dhabi location and worked for several weeks to complete the required work on the vessel."
The work was done in the ME.
Why?
9 years old, that would be during Clinton.
The US Navy is still operating there in a big way, just ask the former CENTCOM commander:
Tommy Franks Defends Dubai Ports Deal
Former CENTCOM commanding general Tommy Franks said Wednesday that the Bush administration was right to approve a deal for a United Arab Emirates-based company to run six major U.S. ports.
"We have more U.S. Navy ships using the port in Dubai, Jebel Ali, than any other port outside the United States," Franks told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes."
The former Iraq war commander explained U.S. reliance on the Dubai port facility by saying, "We know he difference between an enemy and a friend." "The Emirates is a friend," Franks said. "That is the best run port that I've ever seen."
Gen. Franks said the Dubai company had three essential qualities that commend it for the task of running U.S. ports: the capacity to handle the job, the inclination to do it right and security, which he noted "will remain, in any case, in the hands of the United States Coast Guard."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/2/22/221135.shtml
Muslim Arabs building our warships? I believe them to be jihadists putting on a good face. They are not to be trusted. I thought after the Arab Muslim attack on America on 9/11, this would be obvious. The regime there regards the Taliban as the legitamate government of Afghanistan..
Worse, them Arabs don't get the good cable.
So what is it now... do we still call it the Persian Gulf, or are we now to call it the Arabian Gulf?
The Arabs have always called it the Arabian Gulf - it's kind of like one of those "Falkland Islands - Malvinas" conundrums. You have to choose sides!
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