USS Zumwalt was scheduled for christening next weekend
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said today that the Navy has informed her they are delaying the christening of the USS Zumwalt at Bath Iron Works. The christening ceremony had been scheduled for October 19.
"The christeing of the Zumwalt is a big deal, but the government shutdown just made it impossible for the Navy to pull off the ceremony next weekend," Pingree said. "Obviously it will be rescheduled but it is a bit of a disappointment for the men and women at BIW who have worked so long and so hard to get the Zumwalt ready for launch and were undoubtedly looking forward to the christening ceremony."
The ship is expected to be launched on schedule without a public ceremony, and an in-water christening ceremony will be scheduled for a future date.
The USS Zumwalt is the first of the Navy's next generation destroyers, and has beenunder construction at BIW since early 2009. The christening, or naming ceremony, was to take place the morning of October 19. After the ceremony is completed the ship is slowly floated in the Kennebec River.
"This is an inconvenience and a disappointment but is also another example of how the government shutdown is impacting Maine," Pingree said. "The shutdown is having a real effect on our economy through layoffs, a decline in tourism, a cutback in small business lending and in countless other ways."
