NASSCO’s Steel Arrives at The Port of San Diego

The Port of San Diego handled a massive shipment of steel shipbuilding materials on February 25, 2014, which will be used by the major local employer General Dynamics NASSCO for the construction of two commercial container vessels.

General Dynamics NASSCO is the only major full-service shipyard on the West Coast, operating as a Port tenant at its waterside facility on East Harbor Drive. The company is the City of San Diego’s second largest manufacturer, with 2,631 employees.

“General Dynamics NASSCO is a major source of good paying jobs. Their success helps our local economy and I am pleased our Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal can meet their specialized needs,” said Port of San Diego Chairman Bob Nelson.

General Dynamics NASSCO was awarded a contract in December 2012 to design and construct the two liquefied natural gas-powered containerships. The ships, each 764 foot long, will be the largest ships of any type in the world powered by this type of fuel.

Some of the raw materials for this contract – about 1,611 million metric tons of steel – were shipped from South Korea on the Isuzu cargo vessel, which will be docked at the Port’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal until Thursday, February 27, 2014.

Longshore workers began unloading the steel on Tuesday. The steel will be trucked to General Dynamics NASSCO’s shipyard.

The first container vessel is scheduled to be completed in late 2015 and the second vessel is scheduled for completion in 2016.

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Press Release, March 2, 2014