Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the Navy awarded a $54,928,445 contract to Konecranes Nuclear Equipment and Services to provide a 140-ton portal crane to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) in Kittery.   This year, the Navy announced that it would refuel and extend the life of up to seven Los Angeles-class submarines, and that all of those availabilities will be performed at PNSY.  The crane will allow PNSY to safely refuel the submarines with new reactor cores. 

“PNSY is known as the ‘gold standard’ of our public shipyards due to the efforts of the thousands of hardworking and highly skilled employees,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement.  “This contract awarded today will ensure workers have the equipment necessary to perform vital maintenance on Los Angeles-class submarines both safely and efficiently.  We welcome this important investment in the infrastructure at PNSY, which is integral to our national security.” 

The funding for the new crane was provided in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Defense Appropriations Bill signed into law in September.  Separately, the FY 2019 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill that was also signed into law last month included $40 million to extend Dry Dock #1’s portal crane rail, which is needed to support the new crane.  Senator Collins is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee.  Senator King is a member of the Armed Services Committee.   

The crane is expected to be completed by May 2021.