NEWS | SAN DIEGO

NASSCO completes first MLP hull ahead of schedule

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A rendering of the Mobile Landing Platform ship. Photo courtesy of NASSCO
The shipbuilders of General Dynamics NASSCO have completed the structural assembly and weld-out of 26,241 metric tons of steel to erect the entire structure of the first Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) for the U.S. Navy, NASSCO reported Monday.

Construction of the ship is progressing on schedule and under budget, the shipbuilder said in a release, and the ship's delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2013.

The final block for the first MLP ship, comprised of the ship's exhaust stacks and weighing 277 short tons, was lifted onboard by crane and installed on Aug. 17. The final structural welds were completed Aug. 31 and inspected by the American Bureau of Shipping and the Navy. Work continues to outfit and paint the ship in preparation for a Nov. 13 undocking.

"The MLP is the beneficiary of the ship-construction lessons learned during the successful T-AKE Program and a concerted 'Design for Producibility' effort," said Fred Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. "With this ship, we have further reduced construction time and applied improvements that have increased the efficiency of our work force."

NASSCO, contracted to build three of the MLP ships, is the sole designer of the vessels. Once delivered to the fleet, MLP ships will join the Maritime Prepositioning Force squadrons that are strategically located around the world to enable rapid response in a crisis, essentially providing a "pier at sea" that will become the core of the Navy/Marine Corps sea basing concept.

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