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.