NORFOLK -- The Navy's four public shipyards, including Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, are in such bad shape that they are not fully meeting the Navy's operational needs, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a sharply critical report released Tuesday.
"Navy data show that the cost of backlogged restoration and maintenance projects at the shipyards has grown by 41 percent over five years, to a Navy-estimated $4.86 billion, and will take at least 19 years (through fiscal year 2036) to clear," the GAO stated.
While the Navy committed to more capital investment and developed an improvement plan in 2013 to turn the situation around, "the shipyards' facilities and equipment remain in poor condition," according to the GAO, Congress' watchdog agency.
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