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USCG Exercises Option for Six Additional Fast Response Cutters at Bollinger Shipyards

USCG Exercises Option for Six Additional Fast Response Cutters at Bollinger Shipyards

Mike Schuler
Total Views: 11
September 26, 2013

The USCGC Webber, the Coast Guard’s first Sentinel Class patrol boat, arrives at Coast Guard Sector Miami Feb. 9, 2012. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana this week has been awarded a $250 million contract for the construction of six additional Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard.

The contract was announced Wednesday by U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., Chair of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee. Senator Landrieu included the funding for these vessels in her FY 2013 Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

Building an additional six ships with FY 2013 funding fills the production line and generates savings of $5 million per ship, resulting in savings of $30 million for taxpayers, Senator Landrieu said in a statement. The funding is also expected to create up to 1,200 additional jobs for Louisianians.

This week’s funding was part of a total $9.3 billion in discretionary funding allocated to the Coast Guard in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s budget for FY 2013.

The contract brings the total number of FRCs on order to 24, seven of which have already been delivered and six are commissioned, to date.

The Coast Guard plans to acquire up to 58 FRCs in total at a projected cost of $3.93 billion.

The six boats announced this week are to be built by Bollinger Shipyards will be homeported in Pascagoula, Miss.; Ketchikan, Alaska; and Honolulu, Hawaii.

About Sentinel-Class Fast Response Cutters

The Sentinel-class will eventually replace the Coast Guard’s Island-class 110-foot patrol boat and uses a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessels 26 foot cutter boat. Other requirements include the ability to perform independently for a minimum of five days at sea and capable of underway operations for a minimum of 2,500 hours per year. The cutter will also meet American Bureau of Shipping design, build and class standards.

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