Northrop Grumman Corp. may be able to find a buyer for a Louisiana shipyard targeted for closing after the U.S. Navy said it plans to accelerate production of a new class of refueling vessels.
The Navy’s 2012 budget will propose starting work on a fleet of double-hulled oilers in 2014 instead of 2017, the service said today. The Navy also would spend about $16 million for training shipbuilders in Louisiana, home to Los Angeles- based Northrop’s Avondale yard.
Adding the ships sooner than planned may help keep the yard open after Northrop said in July it would shut the facility by 2013, move work to Mississippi and eventually spin off or sell its shipbuilding unit. Under the Navy’s previous fleet plan, there would have been no work available for Avondale after 2013.
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