The amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor sails off the coast of Southern California in preparation for deployment in April 2017. Photo by Mass Communication Spec. 2nd Class Ramon Go/U.S. Navy
Feb. 8 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has awarded a $34.1 million contract to BAE Systems for maintenance, modernization and repair on the USS Pearl Harbor.
With options, the fixed-price contract, which is for selected restricted availability on the vessel, would be worth $36.3 million, the Defense Department announced on Wednesday. The ship will undergo maintenance, modernization and repair under a long-term, coast-wide basis which does not limit work on the Pearl Harbor to it's homeport.
The work on the USS Pearl Harbor, a Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship, will take place in San Diego and is expected to be completed by May 2019.
A total of $31.9 million in fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance funds and $2.1 million in fiscal 2018 navy other procurement funds have been obligated to BAE at the time the contract was awarded.
The contracting agency is Naval Sea Systems Command in the District of Columbia.
Earlier this month, the USS Pearl Harbor returned to her home port in San Diego after traveling more than 40,000 miles in a seven-month deployment through the Pacific and Indian Oceans, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Gulf, and South China Sea.
The USS Pearl Harbor is part of the U.S. Third Fleet's America Amphibious Ready Group, which also include the amphibious assault ship USS America and amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego.
"We had many great opportunities to visit some very beautiful places," said Ensign Tyler Renn, a native of Madison, Ala., assigned to the operations department aboard Pearl Harbor, said in a press release. "From the very green island of Guam to the deserts of the UAE to the urban life of Singapore, we were able to experience very different cultures from all around the world. It was a very eye-opening experience and I will never forget the memories I made during deployment."
Last July, the USS Pearl Harbor arrived at its namesake location in Hawaii for the first time since 2013. It then underwent a nearly two-and-a-half-year long maintenance period.
The USS Pearl Harbor was commissioned on May 30, 1998.
