Navy will make decision next month about bringing carrier to Mayport

Navy will make decision next month about bringing carrier to Mayport

POSTED 10/16/2008 - Newspapers in Norfolk are reporting that the Navy plans to announce its preference on November 21 for moving ships to north Florida.

According to The Virginian-Pilot yesterday, Ted Brown, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, said the study will identify a preferred option for renovating Mayport Naval Station to accommodate more ships. After a 30-day waiting period required by federal law, the Secretary of the Navy will make a decision on the base’s future. He said a final decision is expected in late December or January.

Mayport lost its carrier, the John F. Kennedy when it was decommissioned.

Virginia officials are lobbying against the relocation saying the Navy was moving too fast on the decision and the move would be too costly to prepare Mayport. It is estimated it could cost as much at $500 million to complete the major improvements needed to piers and facilities, as well as dredging, to accommodate a nuclear carrier.

Mayport lost its carrier, the John F. Kennedy when it was decommissioned, and the Navy also plans to phase out frigates based there by 2014. Florida officials want the aricraft carrier George H.W. Bush now being built to come to Mayport.

The economic impact of an aircraft carrier is estimated at $400 to $500 million annually for the area.