NASSCO Starts Construction of Tenth T-AKE Ship

General Dynamics NASSCO began construction of the tenth ship of the U.S. Navy's T-AKE program. The ship will be named later and is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the third quarter of 2010.

The T-AKE ship incorporates international marine technologies and commercial ship-design features, including an integrated electric-drive propulsion system to minimize operating costs over its projected 40-year service life. The primary mission of the ships is to deliver as much as 10,000 tons of food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions to combat ships at sea. NASSCO has delivered the first five ships of the T-AKE class and has construction contracts for five additional ships. The Navy is expected to order the construction of a total of 14 ships.