Connect with us

Uncategorized

Navy shuts down 4 Puget Sound submarine dry docks after studying earthquake risk

Navy shuts down 4 Puget Sound submarine dry docks after studying earthquake risk

 


Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Olympia (SSN-717) arrives at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a port visit in January 2017. US Navy photo.

Four dry docks used by the Navy to repair nuclear submarines in Washington have been temporarily closed after the service found they were at risk of damage from the earthquake, service officials told USNI News Thursday.

The dry docks, three at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the intermediate maintenance facility in Bremerton, Washington, and a Delta dock at the Trident Revit facility in Bangor, Washington, are still certified to repair nuclear submarines, but the Navy has decided to keep them. The dry docks are empty pending further investigation.

“The seismic assessment and expert validation enhances the Navy’s knowledge of potential problems associated with a major earthquake occurring while submarine maintenance is available,” reads a statement from the service. “With this new knowledge, the Navy decided it needed to fix weaknesses to ensure the safety of its shipyard workforce, sailors, local public, environment, and submarines.”

As a result of the findings, over the past week the Navy has brought in about a hundred experts from across the fleet and beyond to assess seismic risks on the dry docks, according to a US Navy official.

The risks are still not fully quantified. What we do is no different from what anyone in the Northwest with facilities does – the danger is not localized here. “It really is a regional risk,” a separate service official told USNI News.

The Navy said Thursday that the stop at dry docks will not result in a reduction in the yard’s 14,000-strong staff.

The Navy founded PNSY in 1901, with the oldest of the six dry docks originally built in 1906. The dry docks that have closed service are four of the newer docks. Dry Dock 4 and 5 were both built in the early 1940s, while Dry Dock 6 – used for aircraft carrier repairs – was completed in 1962.

The 13-mile Delta dry dock in Bangor was completed in the 1980s as part of the Navy’s support systems for nuclear ballistic missile submarine fleet.

A second Navy official told USNI News, “They are all constructed differently and out of an abundance of caution we want to take a look at all of them.” It lies on several fault lines, as USNI News understands. It’s unclear what new information the Navy extracted from the latest seismic assessment.

Undated photo of TRF Bangor Delta dock

The yards in Bremerton and Bangor are located near a major fault line that stretches from northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino, California. In 2001, an earthquake centered near the shipyard prompted a consideration of the risks to the shipyard.

“Following the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, seismic vulnerability studies identified high-risk facilities at the shipyard, and in response, the Navy began planning and implementing significant seismic upgrades,” reads a Thursday statement from the Navy.

“The Navy continues to plan and conduct upgrades; several projects are underway, and the remaining facilities will be handled as part of the shipyards infrastructure improvement program.”

Repairing the dry docks that would allow them to better withstand earthquake damage could take between 18 and 24 months, based on past Navy assessments, USNI News understands. This type of work can include removing the floor and siding of a dry dock and using different types of sand to absorb movement in the event of an earthquake.

It is unclear how the pause at the four dry docks will affect the nuclear submarine maintenance backlog at the service’s four public shipyards. According to a 2020 Government Accountability Office report, the Navy had more than 4,000 days of delays in submarine maintenance between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2019.

Eighteen of the Navy’s 50 attack submarines are undergoing maintenance or waiting to go into the yard to make sure they are available, program executive officer for submarine attack Admiral Jonathan Rucker said in November.

Rucker said at the time that the Navy reduced the average number of maintenance days from 1,500 to 1,600 in fiscal year 2019 to about 1,100 in fiscal year 2022. The Navy hopes that number will drop to 700 by fiscal year 2026.

Due to the physical characteristics of submarine maintenance work, a limited amount of it can be done on dock, USNI News understands.

While the Navy could shift some of its attack submarine maintenance to other locations like Point Loma, California, and possibly even Guam, Puget Sound and Pearl Harbor Naval Ship operate through the submarine buildup.

When factoring in the potential for conflict in the Indo-Pacific and incidents such as the 2021 incident with the USS Connecticut (SSN-22), which struck an uncharted seamount in the South China Sea, the capacity could become even more tense.

However, the work of the ballistic missile submarine in Bangor could become a more pressing issue. SSBNs enter the Trident facility for shorter, more intensive maintenance periods averaging around 40 days before returning to patrol. This allows the Navy to increase the sea phase of the nuclear triad when necessary.

Currently, the Navy continues to analyze dry dock mitigation efforts and is not sure when they will reopen.

“We have a hundred people across different organizations and different seismic backgrounds who are bringing some unique solutions and ideas to this,” the senior Navy official told USNI News. “And the Department of Defense pulled out all the stops to try and get the right people together quickly to follow up on this.”

Related

Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://news.usni.org/2023/01/27/navy-closes-4-puget-sound-submarine-dry-docks-following-earthquake-risk-study

The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos

ExBUlletin

to request, modification Contact us at Here or [email protected]