The Navy’s revised cost estimate to restore USS Miami (SSN 755) is approximately $450 million, with an estimated date of completion for the repairs of April 30, 2015 officials announced Aug. 22.
The estimate includes 10 percent variability due to the unique nature of the repair and the cost impacts of shifting the planned maintenance availabilities of other ships and submarines.
Navy is committed to delivering the submarine back to the fleet with no operational limitations. Once returned to service, Miami will serve for an additional 10 years with five planned full-length deployments, ready to respond to any combatant commander tasking.
The resources and workforce to support the repair effort are expected to come from the Portsmouth Naval shipyard, private sector, as well as the local New Hampshire and Maine trades workforce. The Navy expects to award an advanced planning contract in September to support engineering efforts to guide the accomplishment of repairs and procure repair material, followed by the repair contract in late spring 2013.
Since June, the Navy has continued its engineered overhaul work in areas unaffected by the May 23 fire; cleaning and ripping out areas affected by fire and water damage; completing the technical assessment of the damage; developing a strategy for completing repair; and refining the cost estimate.
A lessons-learned oversight board composed of three-star flag officers from Naval Sea Systems Command, Commander Naval Installations Command and Commander Submarine Forces was formed in July 2012 to ensure that all valuable issues and lessons are identified and corrective actions are developed.
The fire that damaged the submarine was set May 23. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation which resulted in the arrest July 20 of Casey James Fury, a 24-year-old civilian worker at the Shipyard. Fury had a first appearance hearing before a federal magistrate in Portland, Maine July 23 and was charged in connection with the May 23 fire as well as a second minor fire in the Shipyard’s Dry Dock #2 area June 16. Fury remains in custody at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland Maine.
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Source: Navy, August 23, 2012; Image: US Navy