PORTSMOUTH, Va. — More bad news for America's four Naval shipyards.
From 2015 to 2019, 38 of the 51 maintenance periods (75 percent) for aircraft carriers and submarines at the nation's four publicly-owned Naval shipyards were completed late.
It adds up to a staggering combined total of 7,424 days of maintenance delay. For aircraft carriers, eight of 18 repair jobs were finished on time; for submarines, only five of 33 jobs were completed on schedule.
That's the word from the Government Accountability Office, which, in a new report this week which concludes "the shipyards continue to face persistent and substantial maintenance delays that hinder the readiness of aircraft carriers and submarines."
The GAO says the aircraft carrier maintenance periods that ended late exceeded their deadlines by an average of 113 days. The agency says submarine maintenance periods ending late missed their deadlines by an average of 225 days.
Former Naval Station Norfolk commanding officer, retired Navy Captain Joe Bouchard, says such delays can have far-reaching consequences.
"The longer you're in the yard -- period -- the more impact it has on crew readiness, so you can end up with a backlog of training for your crew," he said.
The GAO blames the problem on unplanned work, and not having enough people to perform the vital work, and says the Navy is relying on excessive use of overtime to try to compensate.
Bouchard is concerned.
"The report quoted a Navy official as saying, 'We expect this problem to get worse over the next two years.' That is disturbing."