Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama has announced that the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Charleston (LCS 18) will undergo dry docking in Seattle over 2019-2020.

The U.S. Navy awarded Austal USA a $$21,529,121 order yesterday to perform planned post delivery services on the USS Charleston, according to a company news release.

Austal’s west coast operations team will perform the work in Seattle, Washington, with services scheduled to be completed by September 2020.

“The fact we’ve received our third LCS post shakedown availability contract in less than 11 months is a testament to our services team and the great work they’re doing to support the Navy’s small surface combatant fleet,” said Craig Perciavalle, president of Austal USA.

As the number of Austal-built ships in the fleet continues to grow, the company is expanding its west coast operations in San Diego and its Asia-Pacific operations in Singapore to meet the Navy’s current and planned deployments of small surface combatants and Expeditionary Fast Transports.

The LCS is the most advanced high-speed military craft in the world and is intended to operate in coastal areas around the globe. As a key part of the U.S. Navy fleet, they are highly maneuverable and configurable to support mine detection/elimination, anti-submarine, and surface ship warfare.

The Independence-variant trimaran hull form provides the ship with superior seakeeping, fuel efficiency, survivability and the capacity to carry a large, modular cache of weapons packages.