The General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard at San Diego, California has completed the structural assembly and weld-out of 26,241 tonnes of steel to erect the entire structure of the first Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) it is building for the US Navy, with construction progressing on schedule and under budget (seeSM, Feb 2011).
The final block for the MLP, comprised of the ship’s exhaust stacks and weighing 277 tons, was lifted on board and installed in August, with final structural welds completed by the end of the month. Work is continuing on outfitting and painting the ship, with delivery to the Navy scheduled for the second quarter of 2013.
