NORFOLK, Virginia - USS Helena (SSN-725), a Los Angeles-class submarine, completed a Docking Continuous Maintenance Availability (DCMAV) at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) and was certified Nov. 12. NNSY returns SSN 725 to fleet

Building the Shipyards the Nation Needs

The Navy's four public shipyards -- Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY), Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY), Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS&IMF), and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY&IMF) -- perform a vital role in national defense by executing maintenance on submarines and aircraft carriers in order to provide combat-ready ships to the fleet.

Originally designed and built in the 19th and 20th centuries to build sail- and conventionally-powered ships, the Navy's public shipyards are not efficiently configured to maintain and modernize nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. With the Navy's needed focus on operations, the aging shipyards have been unable to adequately sustain and optimize their facilities, utilities, dry docks, equipment and information technology infrastructure. These inefficiencies and obsolete facilities result in higher maintenance costs, schedule risks and reliability issues.

To create the shipyards that our nation needs requires making significant investments to modernize dry docks, optimize industrial processes and modernize standard equipment to bring these critical industrial sites to modern standards.

The Navy established the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) program office in May 2018. SIOP is a centrally-managed program led by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), with support from Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC). NAVSEA is the operating agent and the technical authority for all four shipyards, executing the capital equipment program while NAVFAC provides facilities engineering and construction programs, supports environmental and compliance requirements and retains head-of-contracting-activity authority for facilities and dry dock investments. CNIC is the Navy's shore integrator and directs the Navy's shore environmental program.

The Navy will ensure that the optimization process fully integrates environmental considerations including natural and cultural resources, water and air quality, and more. During the development of individual shipyard plans, the Navy will develop alternatives for assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The Navy will work with stakeholders as part of the decision-making process and will conduct all appropriate NEPA, natural resource and NHPA analyses; agency and government-to-government consultations and public engagement and obtain all required permits to ensure a proactive approach to environmental protection.

Navy Shipyards

Shipyard News

The Rigger's Crucible: How Hands-On Training Builds a Professional

Leslie Bovaird, lead nuclear engineer and Executive Leadership Development (EDP) Cadre A 2026 participant at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility lowers a pipe using a chain-fall during a training exercise at the Learning Center on March 24, 2026. The exercise provides a glimpse into the multi-year training pipeline that develops skilled riggers and gives future leaders a perspective of the craft that is a staple of shipyard life. PHNSY & IMF’s mission is to keep the Navy’s fleet “Fit to Fight” by repairing, maintaining, and modernizing the Navy's fast-attack submarines and surface ships. Strategically located in the heart of the Pacific, it is the most comprehensive fleet repair and maintenance facility between the U.S. West Coast and the Far East. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenny Jones)

May 7, 2026 - Amidst a maze of piping, cables, and tight submarine passageways, an electric motor suspended inches from the deck makes its way towards its new location. A team of skilled shipyard workers executes a seamless dance of...

Mass transit provides viable options to combat parking woes

Worker/Driver buses line Farragut Avenue picking up command employees along the way in preparation for the afternoon commute at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, in Bremerton, Washington, April 23, 2026. Alternative transportation options offered by local transit agencies are available for free to eligible PSNS & IMF employees through the Federal Transportation Incentive Program. (U.S. Navy photo by Wendy Hallmark)

May 7, 2026 - This will come as no surprise to longtime shipyard employees, but there's a common refrain running throughout the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility workforce: “Parking in Bremerton sucks!”"There's...

Members of the command workforce recognized for their hard work, dedication in support of the U.S. Navy throughout 2025

Capt. JD Crinklaw, commander, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, poses for a group picture with the 2025 Employees of the Year during the annual Employee of the Year ceremony at the Admiral Theatre in downtown Bremerton, Washington. (U.S. Navy photo by Wendy Hallmark)

May 7, 2026 - Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility Employee of the Year nominees, their co-workers, friends and family members gathered to honor the command’s top employees during the shipyard’s annual recognition...