US-based shipbuilder Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) has received a contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to begin construction of the fourth Heritage-class offshore patrol cutter (OPC), the future USCGC Rush (WMSM 918).
The total value of this contracting action is $325.06 million, USCG confirmed.
The OPC meets the service’s long-term need for cutters capable of deploying independently or as part of a larger task force and is essential to stopping smugglers at sea, rescuing mariners, enforcing fisheries laws, responding to disasters, interdicting non-citizens and protecting the nation.
The new OPC designs will replace the service’s 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters, which are becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and operate.
As prime contractor, ESG has successfully achieved program goals and mitigated the impacts of COVID-19 and current supply chain challenges. It expects to christen the first vessel this year, is nearly halfway through completion of the second vessel , and will host the keel authentication of the third OPC in a few weeks.
Construction is taking place at ESG’s Nelson Street Shipyard in Panama City, Florida, a facility that is optimized for multi-hull construction of the Offshore Patrol Cutter and dedicated to supporting the U.S. Coast Guard.