Maine's U.S. senators met this morning with Bath Iron Works President Dugan Shipway on the Navy's decision to limit the DDG 1000 next-generation destroyer program to only two ships, and planned to meet with top Navy officials.

Members of Maine's congressional delegation announced Tuesday evening that the Navy would instead have BIW and a shipyard in Mississippi produce more ships in the current class of destroyer, the DDG 51, also known as Arleigh Burkes.

"I had a very productive discussion this morning with Dugan Shipway about the impact of the Navy's decision on BIW. I have pledged to work with him and everyone at BIW to fight for a plan to lessen the potentially devastating consequences of this decision on BIW," Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement. "Bath's highly skilled and productive workforce is critical to our national defense. We will do all that we can to ensure their continued productivity. If the Navy decides to pursue nine DDG-51s over the next six years, BIW would have to be guaranteed the work on virtually all of them to maintain its current workload and prevent job losses."

Sen. Olympia Snowe, in a seperate statement, called BIW's work force an "irreplaceable national treasure."

"Any new proposal by the Navy will be fully reviewed by the Congress to ensure that men and women of the armed forces have a destroyer capable of successfully defending the nation's interests in the 21st Century, and return those men and women safely to the families, loved ones, and a grateful nation," Snowe said in the statement.

Snowe was meeting with Navy Secretary Donald Winter today. Collins said she was also meeting with Winter and Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughead to discuss how to lessen the impact of this decision on BIW.

U.S. Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud are meeting together with the Navy officials this afternoon. Allen had also spoken with Shipway and other officials at BIW and its parent company, General Dynamics.

Click here for more coverage.