The US Navy has awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries an initial $63 million contract to repair and restore the damaged destroyer USS Fitzgerald.
After being selected to perform the repairs in August and receiving a $29.4 million planning contract in October, the Mississippi-based shipbuilder is now set to start work on the initial collision ripout phase of an availability which will include a combination of maintenance, modernization, and collision repair of USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62).
The total cost of returning the destroyer to operational status, including transport from Japan, is expected to reach close to $370 million dollars.
USS Fitzgerald is set to undergo repairs after being involved in a collision with a merchant tanker on June 17. The destroyer sustained significant damage on its starboard side above and below the water line and seven sailors lost their lives.
USS Fitzgerald is currently en route to Mississippi from Yokosuka, Japan, aboard heavy lift vessel MV Transshelf, after a hull-puncture delay .