Austal USA Lays Keel for First Offshore Patrol Cutter as Program Faces Headwinds

Austal USA marked a ceremonial milestone in the U.S. Coast Guard’s troubled Offshore Patrol Cutter program Monday with the keel authentication for Pickering (WMSM 919), the first Heritage-class cutter to be built at the company’s Mobile shipyard.

The traditional shipbuilding ceremony, attended by acting Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday and Representative Mike Ezell of Mississippi, saw ship sponsor Dr. Meghan Pickering Seymour weld her initials onto a ceremonial keel plate alongside Austal welder Ravi Khamsourin. Dr. Seymour is the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Colonel Timothy Pickering, whose name graced the first revenue cutter Pickering launched in 1798.

“Meeting this important milestone for the Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter program is a significant achievement that underscores our commitment to the on-time delivery of the cutters the USCG needs,” stated Austal USA President Michelle Kruger during the ceremony. “Today’s ceremony is representative of the hard work and dedication of our skilled workforce and the strength of the shipbuilding team of Austal USA, the Coast Guard and our suppliers.”

The ceremony comes at a critical time for the OPC program, which has been plagued by severe delays and cost overruns. A Government Accountability Office report released last month exposed systemic problems across the entire acquisition effort, with program costs ballooning from $12.5 billion to $17.6 billion.

The GAO investigation found that the Coast Guard’s strategy of building ships before completing their designs has proven disastrous for stage 1 contractor Eastern Shipbuilding Group, which has made minimal progress and saw half its original four-ship contract terminated in July. Eastern subsequently suspended work on its remaining two vessels due to severe financial strain.

More concerning for Austal, the GAO warned that the stage 2 contractor appears to be following the same troubled path. “Construction of OPC 5 began in August 2024 without a stable design,” the report states, cautioning that continuing to build additional stage 2 vessels before stabilizing the design “increases the risk that stage 2 will also encounter costly rework and schedule delays.”

Rear Admiral Chad Jacoby, deputy commandant for systems and chief acquisition executive, struck an optimistic tone at Monday’s event. “This event highlights the progress made towards delivering this much-needed asset to the nation,” Jacoby said.”With OPC design and modeling activities fully complete and production underway, we are gaining speed towards recapitalization of our medium endurance fleet.”

The 360-foot OPC will provide the majority of the Coast Guard’s offshore presence conducting law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, and search and rescue operations. With a range of 10,200 nautical miles at 14 knots and a 60-day endurance period, each vessel will be capable of deploying independently or as part of task groups for surge operations including hurricane response and mass migration incidents. The cutters will also support Arctic objectives by helping regulate and protect emerging commerce and energy exploration in Alaska.

Pickering is scheduled for delivery in 2027 and will be the third Coast Guard vessel to carry the name. Austal has already begun construction on its second OPC, Icarus (WMSM 920), which started in August. The company holds a contract for up to 11 cutters with a potential value of $3.3 billion, with six vessels currently under contract.

The Coast Guard plans to acquire a total of 25 OPCs as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s layered security strategy, with the vessels complementing national security cutters, fast response cutters, and polar security cutters. The program addresses the service’s long-term need for cutters capable of controlling and defending U.S. borders and maritime approaches while facilitating maritime commerce vital to economic security.

Despite the program’s challenges, the Trump administration has pledged nearly $25 billion to the Coast Guard through passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and “Force Design 2028,” described as a plan to transform the Coast Guard into a more agile and capable force.

The GAO issued four recommendations to address the program’s issues, including stabilizing the stage 2 design before authorizing construction of additional vessels and developing a comprehensive plan for stage 3 procurement that incorporates testing results and shipbuilding best practices.However, the Department of Homeland Security only concurred with two of the four recommendations.

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