Posted on: Saturday, July 2, 2005

Shipyard's future at risk

By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — After having passed unscathed through an earlier round of base closing recommendations, the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard will be reviewed as a possible candidate for shutdown, the independent federal base closing commission announced yesterday.

That jeopardizes the jobs of about 4,500 workers, the state's largest industrial labor force.

The shipyard was included on a list of more than a dozen military facilities that the Base Realignment and Closure Commission announced it wanted to review as a first step to adding them to a list of Pentagon recommendations released in May.

"Everybody is very, very concerned," said Ben Toyama, vice president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents the bulk of shipyard workers. "We're just holding our breath waiting to exhale."

The review of the shipyard caught rank-and-file workers off guard yesterday, Toyama said. As word spread around the shipyard yesterday, he said workers were in disbelief.

"A lot of people are into denial because everybody thinks we're bulletproof," he said. "A lot of people can't believe that the United States would do that to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. It's kind of disappointing. We need to start to sell Hawai'i and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to the Department of Defense. Every other community in America (with facilities on the base closure list) are making themselves look more attractive to the military. But in Hawai'i we've done nothing."

Shipyard officials first thing yesterday morning produced 1,000 copies of a flier yesterday with the message, "No changes announced on base closure," said shipyard spokesman Jason Holm.

Sailors passed out the fliers to workers and placed them in news racks.

"This does not mean that Pearl Harbor's on the closure list or even imply that we're closing," Holm said. "It's not true and causes a lot of people undue stress."

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission is "just considering all options," he said. "It's part of the process."

Holm said most workers read the fliers and went on with their workday, but "rumors and speculation are an unfortunate byproduct of the process."

During the first round of closing recommendations, the Pentagon said it looked at closing either the Pearl Harbor shipyard or the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine. Portsmouth was selected because that decision would leave a shipyard on each coast capable of overhauling and maintaining nuclear powered ships and submarines, the commission said.

About 90 percent of the work currently performed at the Pearl shipyard is nuclear-submarine overhaul, including reactor core replacement for two aging Los Angeles-class attack subs.

Surface craft work largely is performed by private shipyards in Honolulu.

Sen. Dan K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, and other Hawai'i lawmakers said the base commission's move was disappointing. The lawmakers said they would work to ensure the commission understands the importance of the shipyard to the country's security.

"While I am not pleased ... I am confident when they review the facts and examine the critical need for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, they will recognize that it is essential to the Navy, to the Pacific and to our nation's security," Inouye said.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he and the rest of the delegation were going to do everything in their power to keep the shipyard open.

"It's going to take unity, focus and cooperation but we have a strong case to make," Abercrombie said. "I agree with the Navy that Pearl Harbor is a key element of the nation's security."

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, said the shipyard's role in national security "cannot be understated."

"I believe that it would be detrimental to close Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, because it is located in a fleet concentration area in the Pacific," he said.

"In addition, Pearl Harbor has aircraft carrier dry-docking capabilities and would allow the United States to maintain dry docks for aircraft carriers on both coasts and in the central Pacific."

Anthony J. Principi, chairman of the commission, said facts gathered during the panel's hearings and base visits, as well as public comments gave rise to questions about the bases on the review list.

As part of the review process, Principi asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to explain why Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard was not recommended for closure and its functions spread to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia, Maine's Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington.

"Naval Shipyard Pearl Harbor is less efficient than Naval Shipyard Portsmouth, according to Department of Navy data, and additional savings could be found from reduced unit costs at the receiving shipyards because of a higher volume of work," Principi said in his request.

"Naval Shipyard Pearl Harbor has low military value compared to other shipyards, according to Defense Department analysis supporting the recommendation to close Naval Shipyard Portsmouth."

Inouye, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, said he was told that the commission was not satisfied with the Navy's justification for closing Portsmouth.

"It is my view that the Portsmouth decision is unrelated to the need for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard," he said.

If Portsmouth remained open, the Navy still would need Pearl Harbor to provide support for the Pacific Fleet since, geographically, Portsmouth could not provide support, Inouye said.

Abercrombie said that the Navy decided to keep Pearl Harbor because it's the only naval shipyard in the Pacific.

"They can't afford to send ships back to the East Coast every time they need repair or maintenance," he said. "With strategic focus shifting toward Asia and the Pacific, the Navy needs a shipyard in this hemisphere to keep its vessels fit to fight."

The commission will vote July 19 on whether to add the review bases to the Pentagon's recommended base closing and realignment list. It will take the vote of at least seven of the nine commissioners to add the Pearl Harbor shipyard to the list.

"This doesn't mean we will add a base (to the Pentagon recommendations) in all instances," said Robert McCreary, a spokesman for the commission. "We're just asking for more information, for comparison reasons."

Two commissioners also will have to visit any base recommended for addition, and another vote by at least seven members would be needed to add bases to the final list, which will be sent to President Bush and Congress in September for approval.

Inouye noted the Navy, recognizing the importance of the Asia Pacific region, is planning to increase its forces there. As those forces increase, he added, the Pearl Harbor shipyard's role will grow.

"The ships of the Pacific Fleet are dedicated to maintaining peace and stability in the region," Inouye said.

"The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard provides the basis to keep the ships operating and ready when needed."

Advertiser Staff Writer Dan Nakaso and Gordon Trowbridge of Army Times contributed to this report.