Marine Hydraulics International, LLC

Material Facts

• The Navy awarded MHI a firm-fixed-price contract for repair and alterations aboard the USS Gunston Hall.
• MHI subcontracted drydocking and much of the dry-dock work to CSI, which subcontracted some work to IMIA.
• The contract required abrasive blasting to remove existing exterior coating and required containment to prevent grit from escaping the work area into the air or water.
• Degraded freeboard plating was punctured during blasting, allowing grit to enter the ship’s interior.
• IMIA provided rovers to identify hull breaches and personnel to clean grit from affected interior spaces while blasting continued.
• The Navy issued RCC 539G for pricing of additional rover and cleanup personnel, and the contracting officer later voided the RCC.
• The contract documents referenced by the stern-flap work item included requirements to reinstall draft marks and mandatory reference drawings.
• The new stern flap covered the existing draft marks on the ship’s transom.
• The port CPP oil distribution box operational test failed before an overheating incident involving sump heaters on which MHI had performed no work.
• The overheating incident damaged sump-heater gaskets, resulting in oil leaks and repeated cleanup work.
• The undocking occurred on March 12, 2020, and the Board determined that CPP overheating did not cause the undocking delay.
• MHI’s certified claims included a draft-mark claim and a CPP-overheating claim with delay and extra-work components.

Parties

Appellant

Marine Hydraulics International, LLC

Respondent Agency

Navy

Contracting Agency

Navy

Contract Number

N00024-19-C-4450