Todd Pacific Shipyards lands deal to work on Navy aircraft carriers

Todd Pacific Shipyards has won a contract worth up to $133 million to repair and maintain the Navy's Puget Sound-based aircraft carriers.

The five-year deal is an important victory for the company, which gets more than half of its income from repairing Navy ships stationed in Bremerton and Everett.

"This is a credit to a work force that has done a great job for the Navy," said Michael Marsh, the company's general counsel. "The Navy is our biggest and best customer, so we are very excited about this."

The contract follows this week's announcement that Todd Shipyards was laying off some 500 workers because the Navy decided to cancel a planned overhaul of a large supply ship and decommission it instead.

Such swings are common in the shipyard industry, Marsh said. After the layoffs, the company will employ about 800 people, which is about average.

The new contract includes overhauls of four Nimitz-class carriers: USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Carl Vinson, USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz. The Stennis is the first carrier due in for repairs. The work is scheduled to begin next February.

The carrier work is one of three Navy contracts Todd Shipyards has. The company won two contracts in 2001 — a $75 million deal for work on six frigates and destroyers, and a $180 million contract for work on supply ships. But the Navy has scaled back the supply-ship work.

Todd Shipyards shares closed yesterday at 17.25, up 15 cents.

J. Martin McOmber: 206-464-2022 or mmcomber@seattletimes.com