Naval Warfare

Vigor Marine Awarded Overhaul and Dry Docking of Hospital Ship USNS Ship Mercy

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Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $56,450,644 firm-fixed-price contract for a 210-calendar day split shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of the hospital ship U.S. Naval Ship Mercy (T-AH 19). Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, and is expected to be complete by August 2021. This contract includes one base period and 17 options and, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value to $61,201,329. This contract was competitively procured. Proposals were solicited via the Government Point of Entry website, and one offer was received. The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205).

USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) is the lead ship of her class of hospital ships in non-commissioned service with the United States Navy. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, Mercy and her crew do not carry any offensive weapons, though defensive weapons are available. United States Naval Ship (USNS) Mercy was built as a San Clemente-class oil tanker, SS Worth, by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, California, in 1976. Starting in July 1984, she was renamed and converted to a hospital ship by the same company and placed in service on 8 November 1986. She has a raised forecastle, a transom stern, a bulbous bow, an extended deckhouse with a forward bridge, and a helicopter-landing deck with a flight-control facility.

Mercy, homeported in San Diego, is normally in reduced operating status. Her crew remains a part of the staff of Naval Medical Center San Diego until ordered to sea, at which time they have five days to fully activate the ship to a NATO Role III Medical Treatment Facility, the highest only to shore based fixed facilities outside the theater of operations. Like most USNS ships, mariners from the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command are responsible for navigation, propulsion, and most deck duties on board. Mercy is as of 2012 part of MSC’s Service Support Program. The “Medical Treatment Facility”, or hospital on the ship, is commanded by a captain of the Navy Medical Corps or Navy Nurse Corps.

Vigor Industrial (Vigor) is an American shipbuilding, shiprepair, and industrial service provider in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Based in Portland, Oregon, the company consists of several subsidiary companies for a combined total of seven facilities with ten drydocks, more than 17,000 feet of pier space, and over 2,000 employees. Vigor Industrial has several subsidiary companies which each focus on different specialties. Vigor Marine specializes in Commercial ship repair in Portland, OR, and Seattle, Tacoma and Everett, WA with the ability to mobilize teams to anywhere they are needed, including Hawaii.

Vigor Marine Awarded Overhaul and Dry Docking of Hospital Ship USNS Ship Mercy
Hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) arrives in San Diego May 15. Mercy deployed in support of the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts, and served as a referral hospital for non-COVID-19 patients admitted to shore-based hospitals. This allowed shore-based hospitals to focus their efforts on COVID-19 cases. One of the Department of Defense’s missions is Defense Support of Civil Authorities. DoD is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the lead federal agency, as well as state, local and public health authorities in helping protect the health and safety of the American people. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Tim Heaps)
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