The future USS Daniel Inouye cruised past a group of spectators gathered at Fort Popham in Phippsburg as it left for sea trials on Thursday. Kathleen O’Brien / The Times Record

BATH — The future USS Daniel Inouye, built at Bath Iron Works, returned from at-sea trials on Saturday after performing “remarkably well in tough conditions,” according to the company, after the warship sailed through a nor’easter that buried the east coast in snow.

BIW Spokesman David Hench declined to comment on any operational issues that were discovered during trials, but said the destroyer “returned having completed a ‘clean sweep’ of all hull, mechanical and electrical systems, in spite of the twin challenges of COVID-19 and a winter storm at sea.”

“During the winter storm that started Thursday and ended Friday, the BIW Operating Crew navigated [the future USS Daniel Inouye] through 12- to 20-foot swells and 40- to 45-knot winds with higher gusts,” Hench said. “DDG 118 performed as well as our best BIW ships in the past, one we can be confident in the Bath Built is Best Built label. The entire shipyard should take pride in this achievement.”

Hench declined to comment on when the company expects to deliver the ship to the Navy. Hench previously told The Times Record the destroyer, christened last summer, was initially scheduled to be delivered to the Navy almost a year ago.

Production at the shipyard has been delayed, in part, due to a nine-week workers strike over the summer.

The nearly $1 billion Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is the 37th made by BIW. It is 513 feet long and 66 feet wide, with a displacement of about 9,200 tons. The destroyer can reach speeds over 30 knots, and hold a crew of 304.

Hench said the crew aboard the ship for sea trials was “significantly reduced” to mitigate the potential spread of COVID-19 on board the ship. He said no crew members have displayed COVID-19 symptoms thanks to the “testing/quarantining protocol executed prior to Trials.”

In a Dec. 2 letter to workers, BIW President Dirk Lesko wrote the future USS Daniel Inouye heading to sea is a production milestone and “part of a larger three year plan to ensure BIW is delivering the shipbuilding velocity the Navy expects on our existing work and to position us to win new work.”

This story has been corrected to reflect a more accurate price for the destroyer.