UK – Amec appeal refused over £94m costs on submarine job

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Amec’s legal battle to reduce the amount it must pay of a £93.6m cost overrun on a nuclear submarine jetty contract at Faslane has failed.

Now Amec and partners Morgan Sindall face a huge bill as they hammer out with the Ministry of Defence what proportion of cost overruns were properly incurred on the troubled project.

A costly legal battle has been running as both firms struggled to finish the Faslane SSN Berthing Project, first revealed in the Enquirer, more than four years late and at an expected final cost of £235.7m.

When the project was first awarded Amec was sole contractor for the jetty. But after Morgan Sindall acquired Amec’s construction arm for £26m back in 2007, the job became a 50:50 joint venture between the two firms.

Under the terms of the contract, the contractors are liable to pay the first £50m of overruns on the agreed maximum target price for the job, which has itself already risen from £89m to £142m.

This element was not challenged in the latest legal contest, but Amec held that the remaining £43.6m cost overrun should be split between client and contractor, with Amec due any costs howsoever incurred.

An arbitration panel rejected this saying the only costs payable were the actual costs reasonably and properly incurred within the contract.

A High Court judge has now refused Amec’s attempt to appeal this decision in a written ruling this week upholding the arbitration decision.

Source – Construction Enquirer

Babcock & Wilcox announces $510 million in defense contracts

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Babcock & Wilcox

The Babcock & Wilcox Company has been awarded more than $510 million in contracts to supply the U.S. military with nuclear components, the firm announced this morning.

The work, which will include making nuclear power systems for submarines and aircraft carriers, will be performed in part at B&W’s Nuclear Operations Group, which is headquartered on Mt. Athos Road.

Facilities in Barberton, Ohio; Euclid, Ohio; and Mt. Vernon, Indiana also will participate. The work began in January and will last eight years, B&W said.

B&W said more than $445 million of the $510 million figure was issued as options under a 2010 contract worth $2 billion, while more than $65 million was issued under a new fiscal-year 2013 agreement. However, the total amount was appropriated in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Source – News Advance

US Navy fires CO, XO of attack sub USS Jacksonville

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Cmdr. Nathan Sukols, CO of attack sub Jacksonville, was relieved Feb. 10 due to loss of confidence in his ability to command

Cmdr. Nathan Sukols, CO of attack sub Jacksonville, was relieved Feb. 10 due to loss of confidence in his ability to command

The commanding officer and executive officer of attack submarine Jacksonville were relieved of command Sunday, according to a Navy release.

Cmdr. Nathan Sukols was fired due to loss of confidence in his ability to command. Lt. Cmdr. Lauren Allen was fired due to loss of confidence in his ability to serve as XO. Both received non-judicial punishment and were reassigned to administrative duties at Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. The firings occurred following an admiral’s mast on Sunday in Manama, Bahrain.

The two reliefs come just one month after Jacksonville collided with a civilian vessel Jan. 10 in the Persian Gulf, damaging one of the sub’s two periscopes. Repairs have been completed, according to the release.

Cmdr. Richard Seif, previous CO of Los Angeles-class submarine Buffalo, is temporarily taking over as the commanding officer of Jacksonville. Lt. Cmdr. Todd Santala will temporarily serve as XO.

Attack submarine Jacksonville is currently deployed to the 5th Fleet.

Source – Navy Times

Apprentice boost for BAE Systems yard in Barrow

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Ambush in Barrow

Astute Class submarines are built in Barrow

 

Defence giant BAE Systems is to recruit 140 engineering and business apprentices in Cumbria over the course of the year, the company has announced.

They will join the firm’s submarine-building business in Barrow, with a further 100 at its shipbuilding sites in Portsmouth and Glasgow.

The company is building the Navy’s latest Astute Class nuclear submarines.

A spokesman said attracting suitable apprentices was vital in generating the company’s “workforce of the future”.

Source – BBC News

UK – Ruling on submarine facility costs

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Faslane Naval Base (Scotland)

The cost of creating a nuclear submarine support facility at a Royal Navy base could be £145 million more than the initial estimate, a High Court judge has said.

Experts originally quoted an £89 million target figure for the facility at the Faslane base in Argyll and Bute, said Mr Justice Coulson.

The current “agreed maximum price” was around £140 million, said the judge. But engineers thought that the “ultimate cost” could be as much as £235.7 million.

Details emerged after lawyers debated terms of a contract, drawn up when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) engaged engineering firm Amec in 2000, at the High Court in London.

Mr Justice Coulson said the MoD and Amec could not agree on who should foot the “extensive overrun” bill.

The judge said a difficulty had arisen out of “badly worded” contract provisions.

He decided that the MoD should pay a “reasonable” amount but not costs incurred as a consequence of Amec’s contract breaches.

His ruling did not specify exactly how much of the overspend would be footed by the MoD and how much by Amec.

He had heard legal argument at a hearing in December and published a written judgment.

Source – Paisley Daily Express

USA (New London) Submarine Birthday Ball Sing-off entries due 1st March

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New London, Conn. —

The Southeastern Connecticut Submarine Force seeks singers to compete at its second annual Submarine Birthday Ball Sing-off auditions, set for 6 p.m. March 22 at the Dealey Center, New London.

The singer who best sings the National Anthem during the auditions will perform at the 113th Southeastern Connecticut Submarine Force Birthday Ball April 13 at the MGM Grand Hotel at Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket. In addition, the winner will receive two complimentary tickets to attend the ball as well as a one-night stay at the hotel during the night of the event.

The contest is open to all active duty military, reservists, retirees, dependents, Navy civilians and individuals at least 18 years old. To enter, record a video singing any song and upload it to facebook.com/SubmarineBallSingOff or send it to submarineballsingoff@gmail.com. Deadline is March 1.

 Source – Norwich Bulletin

Corac Group wins contract to supply equipment to submarines

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UK engineering group Corac Group has secured a contract extension to supply air purification equipment to an overseas submarine programme.

The company, which serves oil and gas, defence and industrial
markets, said its subsidiary Atmosphere Control International (ACI) will
make the delivery during the fourth quarter of 2013.

The order is worth over £0.7m and will increase ACI’s revenue visibility for the year.

The contract, which furthers ACI’s participation in a long-established programme,
reflects demand in the global submarine market. Recent reports indicate that
more than 80 boats will be launched in the Asia Pacific region over the next 10
years.

Phil Cartmell, Chairman of Corac said: “This order represents a
good start to the year for ACI, and confirms our confidence that the combined
current order book places Corac in a good position.

“Long term supply relationships are a key feature of the ACI business and this order demonstrates
how the company can benefit from building business in expanding markets.
Encouraging signs from global programmes offer ACI an increasing pipeline of
opportunities for 2013 and beyond.”

Source – Sharecast

North Korea’s Submarine Bases

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Taken from Matthew Aid’s own Website – http://www.matthewaid.com/about

All credit for the article goes to Matthew. I have merely lifted if from his site so that others might gain insight through his efforts.

Some interesting Google earth imagery on the links within the text.

Earlier today I posted a blog about the release of satellite imagery about North Korea’s naval bases. In going through the imagery, I discovered that the author of the original piece on cryptome.org missed the North Korean navy’s two most important facilities – the heavily protected submarine bases on the island of Mayang-do at the village of Mayangdori (40.0 N 128-10-36E); and the second sub base which located outside the coastal village of Chahonodongjagu, a/k/a Ch’aho (40-12-56N 128-38-39E). Both bases are situated on the east coast of North Korea.

Estimates vary somewhat, but the North Korean is estimated to have ben 60 and 70 submarines, all of which are diesel-powered coastal subs unsuited for deepwater operations. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the North Korean Navy possesses 4 1960s-vintage Whiskey-class attack subs that rarely go to sea these days, 22 Chinese-made Romeo-class submarines(1,800 tons) which were delivered in the 1970s, 40 domestically produced Sang-O class small coastal submarines (300 tons), and 10 midget submarines used for the clandestine infiltration of agents into South Korea.

Most of these subs are clearly visible in currently available Google Earth satellite imagery. For example, look at this cluster of four Romeo-class subs sharing the same berth at the Mayang-do sub base. If you look just to the south of this berth, you will see two more subs, one of which possibly a Romeo-class sub, docked at the base. About 1,000-meters to the southwest is another heavily protected dock complex housing another cluster of four Romeo-class submarines and possibly two of the smaller Sango-class subs.

Source – Matthew Aid

Another US Navy submarine arrives amid unsolved Tubbataha grounding

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USS Guardian to be dismantled after running aground on Philippines’ Tubbataha Reef

    The U.S. Navy minesweeper USS Guardian, top, is seen stranded on the Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea 400 miles southwest of Manila, Philippines, Jan. 25, 2013, in this picture released by the Tubbataha Management Office.

The U.S. Navy minesweeper USS Guardian, top, is seen stranded on the Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea 400 miles southwest of Manila, Philippines, Jan. 25, 2013, in this picture released by the Tubbataha Management Office. / AP Photo/Tubbataha Management Office

MANILA, Philippines The U.S. Navy said Wednesday that it would dismantle a minesweeper that ran aground on a coral reef in the Philippines after carefully studying all options on how to remove the damaged ship.

Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. James Stockman said dismantling the USS Guardian was determined to be the solution that would involve the least damage to the Tubbataha Reef, a protected marine sanctuary where the ship got stuck Jan. 17.

He said the Philippine coast guard was reviewing the plan, but gave no other details.

The Navy had said previously that the Guardian would be lifted by crane onto a barge and taken to a shipyard, but apparently the damage was too extensive and it will have to be cut up and removed in pieces. Stockman gave no time frame for the operation.

The grounding caused no casualties to the ship’s 79 crew and officers, who were taken off the vessel after it crashed into the reef in shallow waters. The ship began listing and taking on water through holes in the wooden hull. The Navy’s support vessels siphoned off remaining fuel and salvage teams removed heavy equipment and hazardous material.

The Navy is investigating the incident, which caused Philippine government agencies and environmentalists to express concern about the extent of damage to the coral reef.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said last week that the U.S. Navy must explain how the ship got off course. He said the Navy would face fines for damaging the environment.

Rear Adm. Thomas Carney, commander of the Navy’s Logistics Group in the Western Pacific, told reporters last week that the investigation would look into all the factors that may have led to the grounding, including a reported faulty digital chart, sea conditions, weather and the state of the ship’s navigational equipment.

The Navy and the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K. Thomas, have apologized for the grounding and promised to cooperate with its close ally.

Source – CBS News

USS Cheyenne comes alongside

MANILA – The problem with the grounded US Navy ship is still ongoing, and many questions as to why it had sailed there in the first place and what will happen to it and the reef are still unanswered, yet, here comes another US military ship, a nuclear-powered submarine, docking in Subic Bay, Zambales, the former US military base shuttered by popular demand in 1992. The docking, as expected, drew protests.

“The presence of a US nuclear-powered ship at Subic clearly violates the nuclear- free provision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution as well as Art. II sec. 7, which requires an independent foreign policy that prioritizes national interest,” said Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Neri Colmenares.

The USS Cheyenne is described by the US Pacific Command as a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine capable of launching Tomahawk missiles, which are long- range rockets that can be armed with nuclear warheads. In fact, it is being described as one of the most capable nuclear attack submarines in the world today. For Malacañang to grant it a diplomatic pass to enter Philippine waters and dock at Subic Bay, is viewed by various groups as “callous.”
Malacañang justifies this by saying that it merely a “nuclear-powered” ship and, thus, not covered by the prohibition of the 1987 Constitution against the entry and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

“Aquino’s callous permission for and defense of the entry of this nuclear-powered submarine into our country shows the world just how unthinking his obedience to the US is,” said Elmer “Bong” Labog, chairman of Kilusang Mayo Uno, in a statement. As the USS Cheyenne is also headed to the same path taken by the USS Guardian, critics such as the KMU now ask: “What is the US up to this time?”

“Every American warship that docks in the Philippines reduces the country to a military outpost of the US in the Asia-Pacific region and likewise reveals the farcical claims of Philippine sovereignty by the puppet Philippine government,” the CPP said in a statement. They warned that the rising number of US naval vessels that dock and patrol in Philippine seas increases as well the possibility of more environmental damage such as the destruction of the Tubbataha corals and the reported dumping of human and toxic waste off the coast of Subic last year.

In 2012, US ships made 197 port calls in the Philippines, while some 444 American aircraft were cleared for landing in the country’s airports, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. It represented a more than four- fold increase from the recorded arrivals in 2010 and 2011.

Source – Bulatlat

China – Naval officer questioned over submarine espionage probe

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// TAIPEI–A rear admiral was questioned by military prosecutors last week in connection with an investigation into alleged leaks of submarine nautical charts to China, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Monday.

//

The rear admiral was summoned as part of an inquiry into a suspected espionage case involving Chang Chih-hsin, a former chief officer in charge of political warfare at the Naval Meteorology Oceanography (METOC) Office, MND spokesman Maj. Gen. Luo Shou-he said.

Luo did not reveal the name or position of the naval officer or further details of the case, because of the need to maintain confidentiality in the ongoing legal case.

The Chinese-language United Daily News (UDN) first reported the new twist in the case Monday.

It said that a senior naval officer in active service was questioned for a full day and overnight last week and has since been transferred to Navy Command Headquarters to facilitate follow-up inquiries after serving as commander of a fleet.

Military sources said the Navy has assigned another officer to take over the rear admiral’s job.

The Defense Ministry confirmed last October that Chang Chih-hsin was arrested a month earlier on suspicion of obtaining classified information through former military colleagues and using it for illegal gains, but it denied that his actions had resulted in the exposure of military secrets.

According to the latest UDN report, Chang, along with a lieutenant at the Naval Fleet Command and a retired missile officer in the Navy, has been detained and indicted on charges of leaking military secrets for illegal gains.

The report further said the trio had told prosecutors that they interacted closely with an active service naval real admiral.

After investigating the claims and collecting evidence for several months, military prosecutors decided to summon the suspect for questioning last week, the report said.

Although the senior officer was released after questioning, military prosecutors are still investigating his possible role in the case, the report said.

The newspaper quoted military sources as saying that if the officer was found to have been involved in spying, it would represent the worst espionage scandal since the “Lo Hsien-che” case.

Lo, an Army general who was lured by a honey trap into spying for China during his time at Taiwan’s representative office in Thailand, was sentenced to life in prison and has been in jail since July 2011.

Although relations across the Taiwan Strait have improved significantly over the past five years, China has not renounced the use of force against Taiwan, and it continues to actively spy on the self-governed island it claims as its own, often through active or retired Taiwanese military officers.

Source – The China Post