Starting this week, the new Naval Support Activity Portsmouth will run the staff and support facilities attached to Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
The new command is part of a Navy effort to speed up maintenance at public shipyards. Norfolk oversees nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers. An activation ceremony at the shipyard Wednesday was dramatically scaled back after the government shutdown.
In August, Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh was put in charge of maintenance under a pilot project. Norfolk is the only public shipyard where an admiral and two captains oversee maintenance.
Shipyards have experienced delays in finishing repairs for at least a decade and the Navy has seen a large backlog in that time.
A 2021 Congressional Budget Office report projected that the amount of maintenance needed for submarines would outstrip the capacity of the Navy’s public shipyards in the next 25 to 30 years. The problem grew worse during the pandemic.
NSA Portsmouth will oversee all of the infrastructure for Norfolk Naval Shipyard, St. Juliens Creek Annex, Scott Center Annex, St. Helena Annex and residents at New Gosport, and Stanley Court Public Private Venture housing areas.
The base will also oversee port operations, EMS fire and emergency services and force protection, unaccompanied and family housing, the child and youth programs and Morale, Welfare and Recreation functions, according to the Navy.
