Naval Secretary Gordon England personally contacted Senator Collins to deliver the news.
"I am extremely pleased to see Bath Iron Works receive this contract," said Senator Collins. "This is the largest contract that they''ve received in their history, and it is a direct reflection of the high quality and hard work that comes from the employees. The additional ships will result in greater stability for the company and its workers."
Secretary England told the Senator, "This is great news for BIW, and great news for the U.S. Navy."
The terms and conditions of this contract were agreed to as part of the recent DDG/LPD workload swap, which Senator Collins helped to make possible when she was able to secure $125 million in advanced procurement for the DDG-51 program in the FY2002 Defense Appropriations bill. Senator Collins also has been a strong advocate for multi-year procurements and even wrote the language to extend the DDG-51 multi-year by two years.
The award of this contract is a significant milestone for Bath Iron Works. BIW employees are premier designers and builders of complex, technologically advanced naval ships. Since the 1950''s, BIW has served as lead shipyard for 10 surface ship classes produced by the U.S. Navy, more than any other U.S. shipyard.
Under the terms of the contract, BIW will build seven ships and Northrop Grumman, the parent company of Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi, will build four ships.