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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2016)
PAGE 8 | March 18, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS By members of Iron Workers Shopmen’s Local 516 and IBEW Local 48 at Oregon Iron Works “Sea Hunter,” the first-ever Anti-Submarine Warfare Con- tinuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), was built by mem- bers of Iron Workers Shopmen’s Local 516 and IBEW Local 48 at Oregon Iron Works in Clackamas. The robotic surface vessel (i.e. drone) is scheduled to be chris- tened April 7 at Caruthers Land- ing, 110 SE Caruthers Street, Portland. The Office of Naval Research and the Space and Naval Systems Warfare Com- mand will then conduct sea-trials over the next 18 months to test its long-range tracking and self-dri- ving functions. The ship is a small part of the Pentagon’s $18 billion Third Offset strategy, which is devised to help the U.S. maintain supe- riority over rising military pow- ers like China and Russia. Jared Adams, chief of media relations for the Defense De- partment’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), told the Labor Press via email that he wasn’t able to provide an interview, but he did send photos and information about the vessel. The 140-ton, 132-foot long ship is the largest unmanned sur- face vessel ever built. Designed to operate autonomously for 60 to 90 days straight, its primary objective is to track enemy sub- marines in shallow waters. In ad- dition to locating spying sub- marines, it also could play a role in supplying other U.S naval ve- hicles and running logistics in operations. And because it is unmanned, the ACTUV (pronounced ‘ac- tive’) is relatively cheap to oper- ate — between $15,000 and $20,000 per day, according to Sea Magazine. In contrast, a de- stroyer costs about $700,000 per day to operate. The prime contractor of the program is Leidos, a national se- curity, health, and specialty en- gineering company. Leidos ini- tially contracted with Christ- ensen Shipyard, Ltd., a non- union yacht builder in Vancou- ver, Washington, to construct the hull, under the supervision of Oregon Iron Works. Christensen closed unexpectedly in February 2015, and the ACTUV was FERC denies application for Jordan Cove LNG facility The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has de- nied the application for the con- struction and operation of a liq- uefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal and natural gas pipeline in Coos Bay, Oregon. The proposed Jordan Cove Energy Project was supported by the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Coun- cil and the Oregon AFL-CIO. The $6 billion facility was to be built under a project labor agreement (PLA) with building trades unions. Construction was anticipated to span 42 months, with an average workforce of 900, and a peak workforce of approximately 2,100. The project consists of three primary components: • An export facility located on the North Spit in Coos Bay to liq- uefy and transfer natural gas to maritime vessels. • The Southern Dunes Power Plant to provide continuous power to the export facility. • A 234-mile Pacific Connector pipeline to deliver natural gas to the facility from North American production sources. Specifically, the FERC said on March 11 that the public ben- efits of the pipeline did not out- weigh the potential for adverse impacts on landowners and communities. “Please know that this is not the end of the road, and that Jor- dan Cove LNG has plenty of options,” said Boost Southwest Oregon, a coalition of organiza- tions, politicians and individuals that support the privately- funded project. “Clearly, we are extremely surprised and disappointed by the FERC decision,” said Don Althoff, president and CEO of Veresen, the parent company of Jordan Cove LNG. “The FERC appears to be concerned that we have not yet demonstrated suf- ficient commercial support for the projects. We will continue to advance negotiations with cus- tomers to address this concern.” Althoff said a request for a re- hearing of the decision will be filed. Photos courtesy of DARPA DOD’s new submarine-hunting drone is union built in Oregon A certification and testing launch of ACTUV took place Jan. 29 at Vigor Industrial at the Portland shipyard on Swan Island. Vigor owns Oregon Iron Works. moved to Vigor Industrial at the Portland shipyard on Swan Is- land. Vigor owns Oregon Iron Works. Local 516 Business Manager Phil Casciato confirmed that his members worked on the AC- TUV, but other than that, he said he couldn’t discuss anything about the project.
