Bender Shipbuilding Awarded Contract on Navy Frigate

Congressman Sonny Callahan announced that Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. recently signed a contract for the drydocking and repair of the USS Stephan W. Groves (FFG 29). The Groves is an Oliver Hazard Perry Class Guided Missile Frigate homeported in Pacagoula, Miss. The vessel’s overhaul is being managed by the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair in Pascagoula for the Department of the Navy. The Groves will arrive at Bender on July 31 for a drydocking scheduled in early August and completion in mid-November. The work package includes drydocking, hull, machinery, electrical, electronics and piping repairs with a contract value of $8 million plus optional items which could result in an additional $1.5 million. The job will require 125 workers. Bender’s CEO, Tom Bender, said “We are very pleased to have received this award from SUPSHIP for the drydocking and overhaul of the Stephen W. Groves, the ninth combatant repair job we’ve done in three years. This award demonstrates Bender’s ongoing commitment to provide the best value to the Navy, as well as to our commercial customers.” Bender is a full-service shipyard that has built, converted and repaired vessels for commercial and government owners and operators for over 80 years.