The U.S. Navy’s expeditionary mobile base USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5) has completed a five-month Regular Overhaul (ROH) at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in Yokohama, Japan—marking the first time a Japanese shipyard has won and executed an ROH contract of this scale for a U.S. Navy vessel.
The $12 million project concluded on April 15 and was planned by the U.S. Ship Repair Facility and Regional Maintenance Center’s (SRF-JRMC) Singapore Detachment. While MHI had previously conducted smaller voyage repairs, the scope and complexity of this ROH represents a new level of collaboration between the U.S. Navy and Japanese industrial partners.
The ROH included replacement of 56,000 square feet of nonskid decking across the flight and mission decks. Inside the ship, 29 key spaces such as the galley, scullery, berthing, and laundry were preserved and upgraded. MHI also fabricated and installed over 300 feet of flight deck catwalk safety handrails, replaced four galley ovens, preserved more than 10,000 square feet of the deckhouse superstructure, and completed a full repaint of the vessel’s exterior from bow to stern.
“This was the first ROH for the Singapore Detachment,” said Douglas Cabacungan, the project manager. “Usually, we provide shorter emergent and continuous maintenance repairs outside of Japan. So, we were able to expand our skill set, work outside of our comfort zone, and work with a contractor we normally do not work with, which will pay dividends when we need to start operating in places we aren’t currently.”
Because the overhaul was under six months and the ship was not scheduled to return to the U.S. within 15 months, the work was not restricted by U.S. Code 10 U.S.C. § 863, which limits foreign maintenance of U.S. naval vessels.
Capt. Wendel Penetrante, Commander of SRF-JRMC, added, “The ability to use Mitsubishi Heavy Industry’s shipyard to conduct this level of maintenance availability has allowed SRF-JRMC’s organic workforce in Yokosuka to focus their efforts on the three other warship maintenance availabilities being conducted simultaneously. We were even able to complete one of those availabilities three days early and respond to two unplanned voyage repairs.”
The USS Miguel Keith, part of the Lewis B. Puller-class, has been operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet since 2020. The vessel serves as a floating base for helicopters, small boats, and command-and-control functions, supporting forward-deployed forces across the Indo-Pacific.