PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) – There’s no hiring freeze at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, a Navy official told members of Maine and New Hampshire’s congressional delegations.

“Let me assure you that there is no hiring freeze,” wrote Vice Adm. Paul E. Sullivan, commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command, in a Jan. 17 letter to members of the delegations. “Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is hiring in the near-term to fill vacancies caused by attrition.”

Sullivan wrote that the shipyard anticipates increasing personnel from other shipyards under the One Shipyard’ initiative, which treats the work force at the four shipyards that currently perform submarine maintenance, repair and refueling functions as one unit.

There was concern over a possible hiring freeze in recent weeks in closed-door meetings between shipyard workers, congressional aids and shipyard advocates.

Last week, Paul O’Connor, president of a shipyard union that represents more than half of the yards nearly 5,000 employees, contended that restrictions have been placed on hiring at the yard. He said those restrictions may require the Navy to have shipyard workers from across the country come to Portsmouth to help.

“From our perspective, it’s an issue when we have to bring in help from other shipyards from other parts of the country, as opposed to having the sufficient number of workers here at Portsmouth,” O’Connor said. “It’s a lot more expensive to bring in workers from across the country.”

According to the Portsmouth shipyard’s public affairs office, there are four nuclear submarines at the shipyard undergoing overhauls, refueling and inactivation. Within the year, another three nuclear submarines are expected to be worked on at the yard.

Meanwhile, Donald Winter, the secretary of the Navy, was scheduled to visit the shipyard on Friday as he tours Navy facilities in the Northeast.

Winter, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, was sworn in as secretary earlier this month.

New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu, and Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, along with U.S. Reps Jeb Bradley of New Hampshire and Tom Allen of Maine, expressed their concerns about a possible hiring freeze in a letter to Sullivan last week.