US-based designer and builder of steel military and commercial vessels Bollinger Shipyards has submitted a final proposal to the US Coast Guard to build Stage 2 of the Heritage-class offshore patrol cutter (OPC) program.
The US Coast Guard revised the existing OPC program in 2019 following a Government Accountability Office report that stated: “the cutter’s design is unstable, its schedule optimistic, and its cost estimate incomplete—making it likely that building it will take longer and cost more.”
Bollinger has been actively involved in every step of the US Coast Guard’s OPC acquisition process, including the execution of the Stage 1 preliminary and contract design, where the company was included in the final three shipyards, as well as execution of the OPC Stage 2 industry study.
In June 2021, Bollinger submitted its initial proposal to build Stage 2 of OPC program.
If chosen, Bollinger would construct and deliver a total of 11 vessels to the US Coast Guard over the next decade. The construction would occur at its facilities in Houma, Louisiana.
“That shipyard is strategically placed within a 100-year hurricane risk reduction system with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico without any hindrances such as drafts or time-zone differences,” the company stated.
In a new study conducted by the Economics & Policy Research Group at Louisiana State University (LSU) on the economic impact should Bollinger be chosen to build up to 11 ships for the OPC Program, LSU found that the project would create more than 2,700 direct and indirect jobs and generate $7.3 billion in economic output for Louisiana.
“The numbers tell a compelling story – the Offshore Patrol Cutter program would be a major game changer for the State of Louisiana and Bollinger is the right shipyard at the right time to build this platform for the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Ben Bordelon , Bollinger President and CEO.
So far, Bollinger has worked on Island-class, the Marine Protector-class, and the Sentinel-class vessels for the US Coast Guard.