PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- A U.S. Navy destroyer is afloat again as an overhaul continues following a 2017 collision off Japan that killed seven sailors.
The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command says the USS Fitzgerald launched out of a dry dock Tuesday at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Fitzgerald moored alongside a pier for work that Rear Adm. Jim Downey says will now include testing and outfitting.
The Fitzgerald arrived in Pascagoula in January 2018 after a collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship caved in parts of the warship above and below the waterline.
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Workers are repairing the ship and also doing modernization work previously scheduled for this year. The Navy has awarded Ingalls $120 million in contracts for work so far, a total expected to rise.
Repairs could be complete by midyear.
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