PORTLAND (AP) – Rep. Tom Allen on Wednesday trumpeted a trade publication report that the Navy plans to award contracts for six DDG-51 destroyers to Bath Iron Works, saying it vindicates his support for the program and his reluctance to pin the yard’s future on a newer ship.

Allen quoted Inside the Navy as saying the Northrop Grumman yard in Mississippi will be getting two of the eight DDG-51s proposed in lieu of building more of a new generation of destroyers that has been criticized as too costly.

“This is great news for Bath Iron Works,” Allen said at a news conference. “Eight would be a better number but six out of eight is good.”

The Democrat, who is challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins, criticized his opponent for her advocacy for the newer DDG-1000 destroyer, a program that the Navy wants to halt. He said the older destroyer better reflects national security needs and promises to provide an uninterrupted workload for Bath Iron Works.

Collins, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday that the Navy has made no final decision on the direction of its shipbuilding programs beyond fiscal 2009.

“Building a third DDG-1000 is vital to prevent a gap in work if the program is halted and the DDG-51 restarted,” said Collins, who maintained that one DDG-51 a year is not sufficient to preserve Bath’s work force.

The Navy wanted to halt the costly DDG-1000 program after two ships, but Congress has secured partial funding for a third ship.

Allen acknowledged that his office has not confirmed the Inside the Navy report, which was based on an internal Navy document. But he said, “These publications tend to be not too far off.”

Allen was joined at his news conference by five shipyard workers whose unions have endorsed his candidacy.

John Portela, secretary-treasurer of Local S-6, praised Allen’s efforts on behalf of Bath and said Collins was the only member of the Maine congressional delegation who failed to respond to a letter he sent in July seeking a meeting to discuss coordinated efforts to ensure future workloads.

Collins spokeswoman Jen Burita said the senator’s office has no record of receiving a letter from Portela since 2002. She said Collins has met many times with Local S-6 members, including Portela, most recently last May.