PORTLAND (AP) – The Navy has awarded a $488.6 million contract to Bath Iron Works for an Aegis guided missile destroyer, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced Tuesday.

The ship is expected to be completed in September 2010.

“This is an important contract for BIW to stay competitive in the shipbuilding industry and to maintain a steady workload at the shipyard,” Collins, R-Maine, said.

As the Aegis destroyer program winds down, BIW is bracing for job cuts because of a workload gap that would preceed production of the Navy’s next generation destroyer, the DD(X).

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Collins met Tuesday with Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of naval operations, to reinforce the need to maintain a steady shipbuilding workload at the Bath yard.

Collins, a member of the Armed Services Committee, emphasized the need to maintain Maine’s industrial base for shipbuilding.