The Maritime Executive:

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) led a complex weld engineering and inspection project for the USNS SBX-1. Project success is attributed to a strong team of industry experts including several of our licensed engineers who are certified welding inspectors (CWI) through the American Welding Society (AWS).

EBDG developed an optimized weld procedure for an uncommon grade of steel for Tote Services, LLC, in support of work on the USNS SBX-1 X-band radar vessel. This unique vessel is part of the United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency and provides key tracking and identification of potential ballistic missile threats. The regulatory agencies in control of the approval and oversight of the procedure included the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and United States Coast Guard (USCG), in support of the ultimate owner, the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Sealift Command (MSC).

The challenge for this effort was to develop a regulatory-approved weld procedure appropriate to the exotic grade of steel used for the hull of the SBX-1. The steel is an American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) grade FH-36 low temperature steel. This steel is suitable for service in arctic conditions as it retains higher impact toughness in very cold ambient temperatures when compared to more common ABS grade A steel…



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