In the summer of 2009, Northrop Grumman’s Avondale Shipyard had just finished building USS New York — a San Antonio-class amphibious transport ship with a bow built with steel salvaged from the World Trade Center towers. After five years of painstaking construction at the shipyard, the nearly $1 billion warship was finished and ready for sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico.
A major obstacle lay it her path out to sea however…New Orleans’ Huey P. Long Bridge, something the shipbuilders, and the ship’s captain, Cmdr. Jones, were seriously concerned about.
NOAA offered a solution, their Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®).
This system measures and distributes current and predicted water levels, currents, salinity, and weather parameters (e.g., winds, atmospheric pressure, and air and water temperatures) that mariners need to navigate busy ports, and in this case, pass safely under a bridge.
In this case, with only 2.1 feet to spare.
Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update
Essential maritime and offshore news, insights, and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox
General Dynamics NASSCO has joined forces with South Korean shipbuilding leaders Samsung Heavy Industries and longtime partner DSEC Co., Ltd. in a strategic tri-party alliance aimed at advancing ship design...
Hung Cao and the Fight to Rebuild America’s Maritime Power Before the Next War Arrives by Captain John Konrad (gCaptain) The first thing you notice about the US Navy’s Undersecretary...
China is deploying a large number of naval and coast guard vessels across East Asian waters, at one point more than 100, in the largest maritime show of force to date, according to four sources and intelligence reports reviewed by Reuters.
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
