The former Bath Iron Works president Dirk Lesko has been hired to be the next president of Irving Shipbuilding, a company that builds  warships for the Royal Canadian Navy.

Former Bath Iron Works President Dirk Lesko Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Irving Shipbuilding announced the news Tuesday, nearly three months after Lesko’s abrupt resignation from BIW, a Bath-based company that builds warships for the U.S. Navy.

Irving Shipbuilding, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is partnered with the Canadian government and was awarded a $25 billion contract in 2011 to build the Canadian navy’s future fleet of warships.

Lesko’s departure from Bath Iron Works remains unexplained, aside from a two-sentence company memo announcing his resignation to employees. Prior to his April 7 resignation, he had been president of Bath Iron Works for five years and had been at the company for over 30 years.

“We are very pleased that Dirk Lesko is joining us as president,” Jim Irving, co-CEO of J.D. Irving, Ltd., said in the company’s written announcement.  “He brings extensive experience in military shipbuilding which will continue to enhance Irving Shipbuilding as Canada’s Combatant Shipbuilder.”

Lesko will become Irving Shipbuilding’s president starting Sept. 1, taking over for Kevin Mooney, who resigned as president last month for personal reasons. In Lesko’s place, Gulfstream Aerospace executive Charles F. Krugh has been appointed president of Bath Iron Works.

Comments are no longer available on this story