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Early Planning for JFK Availability Shows Success

NAVSEA News Wire

12/13/2002

By Irene Smith, Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs

MAYPORT, Fla. -- After a successful six-month deployment that included the launching of airstrikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan, a major maintenance availability for USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) will begin in January 2003. The 34-year-old carrier is one of three remaining conventionally powered carriers in the Fleet.

Naval Sea Systems Command's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair (SUPSHIP) Jacksonville will oversee the Extended Selective Restricted Availability (ESRA) for Kennedy, a planning process spanning three years. The $218 million, ten-month availability is the largest maintenance project in Mayport history.

SUPSHIP Jacksonville's Commanding Officer, Capt. Rich Burna, was Kennedy's Chief Engineer before reporting to his present assignment, and understands first hand the maintenance challenges facing the aging carrier. "I am totally committed to getting the Kennedy ready for its next deployment," he said. "I have a vested interest in this ship"

The Kennedy availability is the result of more than three years of planning. SUPSHIP Jacksonville defined manpower requirements and worked in conjunction with local authorities, contractors, and the Fleet, to ensure Naval Station Mayport can accommodate such a large influx of contractor personnel.

"The challenge to the JFK's ESRA is the integration of private contractors, two shipyards, alteration teams and a huge ship's force work package," said David Phillips, Deputy SUPSHIP Jacksonville. "It is the largest carrier availability to date performed outside a public shipyard. It is a huge amount of work that is three times the average of what the port normally does."

The significance of the Kennedy ESRA is the integration of many different maintenance components, said Phillips. With a large number of private contractors, two Naval shipyards, several Alteration Installation Teams (AITs) and a huge ship force work package, the complexity and coordination of the availability is staggering. Extensive planning to ensure that the correct number of shipfitters, machinists, pipefitters, electricians, painters and other skilled artisans are onboard, and at the right time, requires close coordination among all the maintenance activities. Integrated scheduling and organization of key events is crucial to staying on schedule and making the ESRA a success. More than 435,000 mandays, which translates to 12 years of work, is being compressed into a ten-month schedule.

Preparing for an early start on the ESRA, SUPSHIP Jacksonville oversaw the setup of facilities and temporary services, and began commencement of production work that included tag outs and preps for antenna removal. Pier side production services were set up and equipment and ship materials were staged for easy accessibility. One of the elements SUPSHIP Jacksonville initiated is centralized work control to track all repair activities.

Cooperative partnering with three master ship repair contractors, Atlantic Marine, Inc., Earl Industries and NORSHIPCO/North Florida Shipyard resulted in the JFK being described by Atlantic Marine as "one of the best-planned availabilities we have seen."

A major component of the initial work will be the replacement of worn out carbon-steel piping that will be replaced with new copper nickel piping. The availability also includes extensive work on the Kennedy's aircraft launch-and-recovery equipment, replacement of two air conditioning plants and improvements that will alleviate the strain on the ship's electrical capacity.

Major work will include preservation of the island and mast and the installation of a Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launcher. Heavily corroded catwalks will be replaced with new walkways made of longer-lasting composite material. The ship's work force will tackle 900 self-help jobs, including the refurbishment of many heads and berthing.

"The repairs and improvements to JFK will go a long way toward improving the reliability and habitability of the carrier and enable the ship to meet its scheduled operational commitments," said Burna. "Together, SUPSHIP Jacksonville and its partnership team of contractors and shipyards workers are poised to make this ESRA a success."