The Coast Guard has awarded a contract for four additionalSentinel-class fast response cutters to Bollinger Shipyards. The contract brings the total number of FRCs awarded to Bollinger up to 60 vessels since the program’s inception. The Coast Guard is scheduled to procure 64 FRCs.
All four FRCs will be built at Bollinger’s Lockport facility and are scheduled for delivery to the Coast Guard in 2022 and 2023. Three of the four would be homeported in Alaska and the fourth in Boston.
The FRC program has had a total economic impact of $1.2 billion since inception in material spending and directly supports 650 jobs in Southeast Louisiana. The program has indirectly created 1,690 new jobs from operations and capital investment and has an annual economic impact on GDP of $202 million, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Maritime Administration on the economic importance of the U.S. shipbuilding and repair industry.
“It’s a great honor to have the confidence of the U.S. Coast Guard to continue the work we’re doing,” Bollinger Shipyards president and CEO Ben Bordelon, said in a statement announcing the new contract. “The FRC program is something we’re all proud of here in Louisiana. Delivering vessels on schedule and on budget to the Coast Guard during these challenging times shows the determination and resiliency of our workforce.”
Currently, Bollinger is participating in industry studies for five government programs, including the Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter program, the Navy’s Common Hull Auxiliary Multimission Platform program, the Navy’s Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance program, the Navy’s Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle program and the Navy’s Light Amphibious Warship program.
