ABU DHABI SHIPBUILDING COMPLETES ITS FIRST U.S. NAVY SHIP REPAIR CONTRACT (UAE)

June 24, 1997, ABU DHABI, U.A.E. -- Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) has completed repairs on the U.S. military transport ship USNS Gordon, its first contract for work on a U.S. Navy vessel since the shipyard was established approximately one year ago.

ADSB received the contract from Newport News Shipbuilding (NYSE: NNS), Newport News, Virginia, USA, a major shareholder in ADSB. The Gordon repair project involved completion of warranty work for the U.S. Military Sealift Command vessel during its recent visit to the Arabian Gulf.

The USNS Gordon recently underwent a major conversion by Newport News from a standard container ship to a sophisticated, roll-on roll-off vessel for use by the U.S. Military Sealift Command. The converted ship was delivered in August, 1996 at the Newport News facilities in the U.S. and is presently in the Gulf on its maiden voyage. Like any newly delivered vessel, a number of machinery and equipment items needed adjustment or maintenance after their initial operating period. Since Newport News personnel provide both the executive and technical management services for ADSB, the Abu Dhabi company was a logical choice to complete this warranty work.

ADSB completed the repairs while the ship was docked in Jebel Ali Port, about 50 miles north of Abu Dhabi. A team of ADSB specialists and supervisors was dispatched to Jebel Ali from the company’s Abu Dhabi location and worked for several weeks to complete the required work on the vessel.

"We believe the U.S. Navy personnel on the Gordon were well pleased with our work and we intend to pursue additional opportunities with this particular customer in the future," said Rocky Holliday, ADSB’s managing director.

The work involved a number of electrical, machinery and welding-related items discovered during the ship’s initial deployment. NNS sent a technical representative to the Jebel Ali Port where he stayed during the entire job to coordinate between the two companies and interface with the U.S. Navy customer. ADSB’s knowledge of U.S. Navy equipment and procedures greatly facilitated the work and reduced the expected repair time.

Besides the actual warranty work, ADSB also coordinated the receipt of materials provided by Newport News, provided access to the port, and supervised several subcontractors. ADSB was also able to procure additional required materials from its local vendor list. The ADSB team worked closely with the ship’s crew to provide maintenance services on a number of different systems, often while they were still operating, to avoid shutting down main electrical power and critical equipment.

ADSB began operations in mid-1996 after a very successful public stock offering in the United Arab Emirates. In July of last year, ADSB bought an existing, small shipyard just outside of Abu Dhabi. The company is currently building, refitting, and repairing vessels at this existing site while a new, much larger shipyard facility is being designed and constructed at a location nearby. Newport News currently has a team of 16 employees permanently located in Abu Dhabi providing both executive and technical management for the new company.

"This was ADSB’s first opportunity to provide support for U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf," said Holliday. "Now that the U.S. Navy has worked with us and seen what our local NNS personnel are able to do, I’m hopeful that ADSB will be able to provide repair and maintenance services for other U.S. Navy ships deployed in the region."

Newport News Shipbuilding is America's largest ship design and construction company. It has produced approximately 800 ships during its 111 years of operations - including Navy aircraft carriers, submarines, and cruisers. The company is currently building the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and has begun work in preparation for construction of the Navy's New Attack Submarine. It is also building nine Double Eagle product tankers. Its 1996 revenues totaled $1.87 billion, with earnings before interest and taxes of $140 million. The current backlog is approximately $3.3 billion. The workforce numbers 18,000, making it Virginia's largest private employer.

Some of us prefer erroring on the side of caution and remember mistakes of the past. Others simply think oh well things happen I guess.

Yeah, sadly so. I expect more from conservative types however. Thanks.

I thought of that as well but quickly discarded it. I'd say former Brit owners had the same likelyhood of infiltration....given their PC "must kiss terrorist butt" general attitudes, as this particular company.

If they want to kill us, there are easier and far cheaper ways. This is about making money, that's all.

Yes, that's why I said it's "negligible". Either way this "Portgate" goes, letting DPW run the US terminals, or they do not, inherently the ports will neither be more safe or less safe.

If DPW wanted to attack the US through the shipping industry, they probably could come up with an inside job since they do know the business - a lot cheaper than $6.8 billion

The “hauling up” ceremony for the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) and Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist (EAWS) pennants occurred shortly after Vinson moored pierside in the United Arab Emirates’ port of Jebel Ali near the city of Dubai.

I want to clarify something on the CARL VINSON mooring pier side at Jebel Ali. IF an emergency had occurred the ship would not have been able to get underway out of port right then and there on it's own power. Meaning tugs are required.

The advantage defense wise for anchoring off shore is the immediate within two minutes time to have the ship actually moving underway and completely on it's own power & steering with no help needed. A carrier can do it I saw mine do it in 1977 anchored off the coast of Yugoslavia. The deck houses and anchor was being hoisted the same time the screws were being engaged.

One last point if anyone thinks MARDET would have provided security, MARDET was eliminated I believe sometime in the early to mid 1990's from the carriers. MARDET means Marine Detachment which was the carriers security force used to repel boarders and threats to the ship.

I guess it will be OK for their employees at the ports to be potential terrorists. Some of these ports have huge military shipments. It's a question of Murphy's Law. And no, unlike President Bush, I don't regard the UAE as an equivalent ally to Britain.

Terrorists could infiltrate a British company just as easily as they could infiltrate a UAE company. Do you really think they need to spend 6 Billion dollars just to get terrorists in our country? For the price of a plane ticket and a few hundred for a coyote, they can get a terrorist into the country and to ANY port through Mexico.

This deal is going to make our ports safer. DP World is going to increase already existing company security. They've agreed to more extensive container checks. They have agreed to go above and beyond what the Brits did. Let's go back to that 6 billion figure. How many terrorist attacks could they launch with that amount of money? How many tankers could they load with explosives and destroy each and every one of our ports with that kind of money?

Y'all just aren't making any sense on this issue.

Yemen does not border the UAE. It borders Oman and Saudi Arabia

Thanks,Your right but the point is still the same. Under the current threat levels we do not need to be doing U.S. Naval yard work over there. A shipyard is where a ship is most vulnerable both to attack and the compromising of classified material which includes some equipment.

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