From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Improving Naval Shipyards Description: GAO reports on the ability of Navy shipyards to keep up with maintenance schedules. Related GAO Work: GAO-20-64, Naval Shipyards: Key Actions Remain to Improve Infrastructure to Better Support Navy Operationss Released: November 2019 [ Background Music ] [ Diana Maurer: ] Shipyards are a critical part of having a ready US Navy. [ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the US Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt Oldham. The Navy's ships, from aircraft carriers to submarines, will always have a maintenance schedule, so they'll end up in a shipyard at some point after their commissioning. However, deficiencies at many shipyards threaten the ability to perform crucial maintenance. With me is Diana Maurer, a GAO Defense Capabilities and Management Director, to talk about her recent report on Navy shipyard infrastructure. Thanks for joining me, Diana. [ Diana Maurer: ] Thank you. [ Matt Oldham: ] Could you talk a bit about the relationship between shipyards and readiness? [ Diana Maurer: ] Shipyards are a critical part of having a ready US Navy, so our report focused specifically on aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. Those are big, complicated ships and subs that are serviced at four public shipyards around the United States, and every couple of years, they undergo very extensive maintenance, what the Navy calls depot maintenance, and it's roughly comparable to when you take your car into the shop and get periodic maintenance done. It's something that you plan for, you know in advance. The Navy does the same thing. They plan for and they know in advance when they want to bring their aircraft carriers and when they want to bring their nuclear subs into these public shipyards to get the required maintenance. [ Matt Oldham: ] And, are shipyards able to keep up with this depot maintenance? [ Diana Maurer: ] The bottom line is, no, they're not, and the analysis we did as part of our review found that the Navy was only able to complete the scheduled maintenance 30% of the time, which means 70% of the time, it went longer than planned, and there were a variety of reasons for that. This report focused on the shipyards, themselves. The four public shipyards were in and are in poor condition. Part of that just stems from the fact that they're very old. The youngest of the four is Pearl Harbor, and that opened well over 100 years ago. So, these shipyards were initially built and designed to support a Navy when the Navy had sails and steam-powered vessels. The Navy has a shortage of dry docks, and that's a critical part of any shipyard. Part of what happens when a sub or an aircraft carrier undergoes depot maintenance is that they essentially take it apart into pieces, do some maintenance, and put it back together again, so you need a dry dock, which is very complicated, very expensive. It's basically a big, sophisticated bathtub. You sail the ship in, you put the wall up behind it, you drain the water out, you do the work, you sail it back out. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] So, it sounds like Navy shipyards need to update their infrastructure to be able to better support Navy operations. The age of the shipyards and the age of the equipment, I imagine, makes this a pretty substantial undertaking requiring a lot of planning and coordination. Diana, does the Navy have a plan to improve shipyard infrastructure? [ Diana Maurer: ] The good news is, yes, they do. In 2017, we issued a report on the poor conditions of the shipyards, and we recommended that the Navy develop this plan, and in 2018, they did. They developed this plan, they submitted it to Congress. Congress, in turn, turned to GAO and said, "Take a look at this plan, let us know what you think." In the Navy's plan, they plan to spend about $21 billion over the next 20 years to modernize, to upgrade, and to optimize their four public shipyards, but they're still many, many steps away from implementation and many years away from implementation. [ Matt Oldham: ] And, does the report offer any recommendations as they go forward? [ Diana Maurer: ] Absolutely. One of the key pieces that we think the Navy definitely needs to address is the cost estimate, the price tag on this. Among other things, the Navy had not factored in inflation, which is really important when you're talking about a 20-year plan. By our estimate, that would add another $9.5 billion to the price tag, just for inflation. The Navy's plan also does not include the costs of modifying roads, upgrading utilities, handling historic preservation and environmental considerations. There will be price tags associated with all these things. We think that when the Navy updates its cost estimate, these things definitely need to be put in there to make sure that Congress has a good understanding of the funding that the Navy thinks is necessary to carry out the plan. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, last question. What's the bottom line of this report? [ Diana Maurer: ] The bottom line of this report is that the Navy faces some serious problems in its ability to maintain the ships that it has now, as well as the ships it plans to have in the future. Part of addressing that major problem is upgrading and optimizing its shipyards, and to do that, we think the Navy needs to update and have a more comprehensive cost estimate. This will better inform Congress of the price tag involved with this critically important endeavor, as well as help ensure that the Navy is not over budget in what it plans to do. This is important for overall national security and we really hope that the Navy takes action on our recommendations. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] Diana Maurer was talking about a GAO report on naval shipyards and what improvements they'll need to continue to support Navy's operations. Thank you for your time, Diana. [ Diana Maurer: ] Thank you very much. [ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. For more from the congressional watchdog, the US Government Accountability Office, visit us at gao.gov.