The site of the original Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., founded in 1938, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The reopening will restore the facility’s ability to support Ingalls’ current ship construction and modernization programs as well as help the company better prepare for future work.
“We are excited to be bringing the east bank back to life,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “As we prepare to celebrate our 80th anniversary, what better way to do that than to announce that the original Ingalls facility will become a productive, vibrant part of the Pascagoula landscape once again?”
Work will begin immediately on the project, which is expected to require approximately two years to complete.
The primary component of the project includes the addition of large, covered areas for construction of ship assemblies and components as well as the restoration of an outfitting pier.
“We are using proven concepts from our west bank modernization as a guide for our east bank reactivation,” said George Jones, Ingalls’ vice president for operations.
The east bank reactivation project is the newest element of the company’s modernization efforts to remain a vital element of the nation’s shipbuilding industrial base.
“We are fortunate to operate in an area that supports shipbuilding and our military at the city, county and state levels,” Cuccias said. “Together with the State of Mississippi, we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to provide our shipbuilders the best tools and equipment and the safest, most efficient work environment possible in which to do the great work they do every single day."
Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry.
For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder.