IAM members of Local S6, District 4 at Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Portland, ME welcomed news recently that their shipyard has been selected to build the Navy’s new Zumwalt-class of advanced destroyers. The flagship DDG-1000 is scheduled to begin fabrication sometime in 2008 with delivery expected in 2013.
The news comes just as BIW approaches the end of a shipbuilding era with construction of the Arleigh Burke destroyers winding down. Union members at BIW began work on the 62nd and final ship in that class earlier this year. Arleigh-Burke class destroyers have been the shipyard's mainstay since the early 1990s.
