USS Miguel Keith Completes Historic Overhaul at Japanese Shipyard

The U.S. Navy’s expeditionary mobile base USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5) has completed a groundbreaking five-month Regular Overhaul (ROH) at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in Yokohama, Japan. The $12 million maintenance project, which concluded on April 15, 2025, marks the first time a Japanese shipyard has secured an ROH contract of this scale for a U.S. Navy vessel.

The extensive overhaul included replacing 56,000 square feet of nonskid decking on the flight deck and mission deck, preserving over 10,000 square feet of forward deckhouse superstructure, and installing 300 feet of flight deck catwalk safety handrails. The work also encompassed deck replacement in 29 spaces and a complete exterior paint job.

“Usually, we provide shorter emergent and continuous maintenance repairs outside of Japan,” said Project Manager Douglas Cabacungan, highlighting the significance of this first ROH for the Singapore Detachment.

The USS Miguel Keith, a 240-meter vessel operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area since September 2020, serves as a customizable floating command base with capabilities for helicopter operations, small boat launches, and troop accommodation.

Captain Wendel Penetrante, Commander of SRF-JRMC, noted that utilizing MHI’s shipyard enabled their Yokosuka workforce to manage three other concurrent warship maintenance projects, with one completing ahead of schedule. “We were even able to complete one of those availabilities 3 days early and respond to two unplanned voyage repairs,” he said.

The maintenance contract was made possible by a specific exemption to U.S. law, as the ship’s availability was under 6 months and it was not scheduled to return to the U.S. within 15 months.

This contract reflects the U.S. Navy’s broader strategy to expand its shipyard industrial base with the help of allies. In another recent example, South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean completed maintenance and overhaul work on the Military Sealift Command’s dry cargo ship USNS Wally Schirra—the first maintenance contract awarded to a Korean shipyard for a U.S. Navy vessel.

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