The US Navy has confirmed the extension of its maintenance contract in force with Navantia since November 2013, as the state-owned company has announced. The contract covers the maintenance work required on the four DDG 51 destroyers deployed by the US Navy at the Rota naval base.

The US Naval Sea Systems Command announced at the start of November 2013 the formal establishment of the Regional Maintenance Center Detachment Rota. Its mission was to provide administrative, industrial, engineering, technical and supervisory contracting services for the maintenance and modernization of four Arleigh Burke class destroyers starting in January 2014.

Teamwork
In mid-2016, the Center announced that the process of modernizing the four vessels had been successfully completed. The director of the project on the fourth destroyer, Justin Thivierge, attributed the success to the teamwork between those involved, among whom he named Navantia as the prime contractor.

Captain Jerry Zinni, Commanding Officer of the Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center (FDRMC), attributed the success to strict adherence to schedule, the high degree of trust among all the stakeholders, and a high level of involvement among the whole team.

The contract with the US Navy entered into force in 2013 and was planned to end in November 2020. Thanks to the new extension, which adds €57 million to the initial commitment, the spending ceiling of the program amounts to €261 million.

A total of 12,500 jobs
In terms of employment, the extension amounts to 3.1 million hours of work for the Bay of Cadiz, with 1,000 direct jobs in Navantia and some 4,000 in ancillary industries. Combined with the induced jobs, this amounts to a total of 12,500 jobs.

Navantia considers this extension a success, as it rates the US Navy as one of its most demanding clients. As the Spanish state-owned company explains in a press release, its work is assessed every six months by the US Navy, and it has obtained an exceptional classification in all the periods reviewed so far.

The contract benefits the three Navantia shipyards in the Bay of Cadiz, where the company accounts for 36% of industrial employment, 3.3% of total employment and 2.1% of GDP.