The guided missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald arrived in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on January 19, aboard the heavy lift vessel MV Transshelf inward bound from Yokosuka, Japan, and restoration works are set to be conducted on the ship.
Fitzgerald will spend several days in the Port of Pascagoula as the heavy lift ship will commence the reverse operation of unfastening, lowering, and guiding the ship off the platform. The ship will then be taken to Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard.
Because of the complexity of the restoration, repair and new construction procedures will be used to achieve the restoration and modernization efforts.
Work on the ship is expected to take place on a land level facility throughout 2018 and one to two quarters of 2019. After that an extensive test and trials period will follow, to ensure all systems and spaces are restored fully.
‘USS Fitzgerald‘ collided with ‘ACX Crystal’ on 17 June 2017 in Japanese waters. Seven Sailors lost their lives and the ship was damaged on the starboard side above and below the waterline.
Recently, information said that a court-martial of the ‘USS Fitzgerald‘ and the ‘USS John S. McCain’s‘ captains is possible.
