Vigor Marine lands $42M contract for work on USS Sampson

May 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has awarded a $42.2 million contract to Vigor Marine for repairs and changes to the USS Sampson destroyer.

The repairs and alterations to the guided-missile destroyer are routine for ships in a dry-docking selected restricted availability, the Defense Department said.

Work on the USS Sampson may include blasting, painting and surface preparation, as well as work on the ship's freeboard, struts, rudders, hull, electric infrastructure and other parts.

The Navy said the Oregon-based Vigor Marine will conduct its work in Seattle and Everett, Wash., where the Sampson returned to port Wednesday after a seven-month deployment.

While deployed, the ship protected the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, escorted other ships and took part in exercises with the navies of Singapore and Egypt, the Navy said this week.

The Navy expects Vigor Marine to complete work on the Sampson by April 2019.

The full $42.2 million has been awarded to Vigor Marine from fiscal 2018 Navy operations and maintenance funding, as well as the Defense Department's fiscal 2018 working capital funds, with $40.9 million expiring at the end of the current fiscal year.