BATON ROUGE -- Northrop Grumman executives told state officials today that the Avondale shipyard outside New Orleans could close by early 2013 if the company follows through on plans to consolidate some shipbuilding operations in Pascacoula, Miss. Even if the consolidation doesn't happen, the shipyard's 11,500 direct and indirect jobs are in danger of disappearing by 2016 unless state officials can...
BATON ROUGE -- Northrop Grumman executives told state officials today that the Avondale shipyard outside New Orleans could close by early 2013 if the company follows through on plans to consolidate some shipbuilding operations in Pascacoula, Miss.
The Northrop Grumman shipyard in Avondale has been working on projects like the LPD for the U.S. Navy.Even if the consolidation doesn't happen, the shipyard's 11,500 direct and indirect jobs are in danger of disappearing by 2016 unless state officials can convince the U.S. Navy to change its procurement plans.
"This would be a tremendous economic challenge, not only to the greater New Orleans area but to the entire state of Louisiana," Gov. Bobby Jindal said at a Governors Mansion news conference.
The news conference followed a morning meeting between Jindal, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Mike Petters, president of Northrop Grumman's shipbuilding operations.
The immediate issue involves the Navy's LPD-17 San Antonio-class amphibious assault ships, which cost about $1.7 billion each and are currently built at Northrop's shipyards in Avondale and Pascagoula.
Jindal said the Avondale plant currently has enough work to keep it busy through 2012. But Northrop executives told the governor they are considering building the final two LPD-17 vessels in Pascagoula.
A decision on where the final two ships are built could be made within days, Jindal said.
After the LPD-17 program is completed, there are no more large shipbuilding contracts in the Navy's procurement pipeline, making it unlikely that Northrop Grumman will have any need for the Avondale facility.
The governor said the state's short-term focus is on keeping the facility open through 2015 by convincing Northrop to build the final two San Antonio-class ships in Louisiana, which would buy the state more time to line up potential new tenants.
"We're explosing every alternative," Jindal said. If Northrop pulls out, the state would likely recruit several companies to the site in an attempt to fill the void, Jindal said, but it still likely would not be enough to replace the 4,800 jobs that currently exist at Avondale.
The governor said he, along with the state's congressional delegation, plan to meet in the coming days with Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in an effort to keep Avondale open. Mabus is a former Democratic governor of Mississippi.