BATH — The Navy awarded Bath Iron Works a $146 million contract to continue providing maintenance and upgrades to Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are the primary type of ship currently being produced by BIW. The most recent Arleigh Burke, the future USS Daniel Inouye, was christened in June making it the 37th ship of its class to be built by the shipyard.

BIW provides planning yard services for all Arleigh Burke-class and Zumwalt-class destroyers including engineering, design, material kitting, logistics, planning and execution.

“The Navy has indicated that the timely maintenance and modernization of the U.S. fleet is of critical importance,” Bath Iron Works President Dirk Lesko said in a statement. “The decision to exercise this option demonstrates that the Bath Iron Works Planning Yard continues to meet its commitment to providing high quality services while meeting the schedule requirements of our customer.”

The contract will run through January 2021.

This is not the first modernization contract the shipyard has received. In February the company received a $126 million contract for the same purpose–continuing planning yard service. Last year, the Navy awarded BIW with three contracts in June for $87.2 million, August for $33.6 million and December for $26 million. Those three contracts were to fund maintenance work on Arleigh Burkes and Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, Zumwalt class guided-missile destroyers and littoral combat ships, a smaller class of warships.

To help conduct these updates and built ships on schedule, BIW is undergoing a hiring push. The shipyard currently employs 6,700 and is planning to hire an additional 1,000 workers next year, then add another 600 to 800 workers in 2021, according to Jon Mason, director of human resources for BIW.

These planning yard services are provided in Brunswick as well as multiple Arleigh Burke homeports including Norfolk, Virginia, San Diego, California, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

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