THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120501
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Norshipco has sued the federal government for $8.6 million, saying it hasn't been paid for extra work it did on two government cargo vessels.
The two Military Sealift Command ships were in the Norfolk shipyard for deactivation after service in the Persian Gulf war. The roll-on/roll-off vessels, the Cape Diamond and Cape Domingo, are used to transport tanks and other vehicles.
In two suits filed against the Maritime Administration in Norfolk federal court two weeks ago, Norshipco is seeking payment for additional work it was told to do on the ships. The ships are owned and maintained by the Maritime Administration, known as MARAD, and operated by the Military Sealift Command. The two vessels, which arrived in the yard in August 1992, are now berthed in Jacksonsville, Fla., as part of the Ready Reserve Fleet and can be activated for duty in four days.
Norshipco alleges in the suits that it is owed $4.6 million for the extra work on Cape Domingo and $3.9 million for the Cape Diamond.
A Maritime Administration spokesman could not comment on the suits.
Norshipco alleges that after the deactivation contracts were awarded, MARAD directed it to do added work or made changes not specified in the initial contracts. The shipyard did the additional work.
Norshipco says in the suits that it has pursued payment for the contract modifications through all the proper channels for more than a year without result.
``In light of the government's repeated pattern of delaying planned negotiations, breaching its promises to negotiate, and refusing to provide settlement figures. . . , the parties have bargained to an impasse and/or the government does not intend'' to pay for the added work, both suits state.
Neither Norshipco officials nor their attorneys could be reached for comment. by CNB