Delays continue to mount for the San Diego-based amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. The Navy expects the needed repairs to the ship's rudder won't be complete until the summer, the service announced in a statement Tuesday.
The Navy will attempt to repair the bearing system on the ship's starboard rudder without placing the ship in a dry dock. The damaged part caused the ship to turn around for home just 10 days into a scheduled deployment last month.
Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesperson for Naval Surface Forces in San Diego, said in a statement the Navy and Boxer's crew will work diligently to get the ship back to sea.
"The waterborne repairs will be conducted at the pier and will likely not require a dry dock," Abrahamson said. "Boxer may resume its deployment as soon as this summer."
It's the latest in a string of mechanical breakdowns that have plagued the ship since it went into dry dock in 2020 for a $200 million upgrade and overhaul.
Navy investigations released to KPBS this year found bad parts and contractor issues led to extensive delays in 2022 when the ship underwent sea trials after its overhaul.
Issues compounded in 2023 when the ship ran its propeller shafts without lubricating oil, the investigations found. The investigation blamed poor leadership in the ship's engineering department.
On April 1, the ship left for deployment with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, its first since 2019. It returned to San Diego April 11.
