NASSCO begins construction of second Expeditionary Base Mobile ship

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- General Dynamics NASSCO has begun construction of the second Expeditionary Base Mobile ship for the U.S. Navy.

When completed, the ship will be 784 feet long, with a 52,000 square-foot flight deck. The ship will be equipped with fuel and equipment storage, repair spaces, mission planning spaces, and magazines. It will be able to accommodate up to 250 personnel, and support MH-60 and MH-53 helicopters, with an upgrade to support MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft.

The Expeditionary Base Mobile ship will be fitted for a variety of maritime missions including Air Mine Counter Measures, counter-piracy operations, humanitarian and disaster relief missions, and U.S. Marine crisis response.

The U.S. Navy awarded NASSCO with the contract to design and build two Mobile Landing Platforms in 2011. Mobile Landing Platforms are designed to be floating bases to serve as a transfer point between large ships and small aircraft. The MLB program was later reclassified by the Navy. The ESB was formerly known as an MLP Afloat Forward Staging Base

NASSCO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Dynamics that specializes in shipbuilding, and is the only full service shipyard on the West Coast of the United States.