Page 29: of Marine News Magazine (June 2023)

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Feature

Gov’t Shipbuilding ? rst boat will serve as an operational value of $150 million, making it one year contract period. test and evaluation platform, but will of the largest boat buys of its type for The Coast Guard is also in the pro- be assigned to USCGC Angela Mc- the service. cess of replacing its aged ? eet of 35

Shan (WPC 1135), based in Cape The Coast Guard is in the process inland waterway tenders that sup-

May, N.J., in an operational role. The of updating its 470-foot motor life- port the aids to navigation (ATON) 10-year OTH V contract was award- boats as part of a service life extension mission. The Waterways Commerce ed to Inventech Marine Solutions of program (47’ MLB SLEP) at Birdon Cutter program is being managed

Bremerton, Wash., in August 2022. facilities in Washington and Con- with a joint program of? ce with the

The contract supports delivery of up necticut. According to Coast Guard Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate to 194 boats and has a total value of spokesman Richard Kanehl, the con- and NAVSEA. Denver, Colo.-based almost $100 million. tract will upgrade at least 107 boats, Birdon America, Inc., was awarded a

The OTH V will be deployed and the project has total projected contract for the detail design and con- across the Coast Guard ? eet of na- contract value of about $190 million struction of the river buoy and inland tional security cutters, fast response to complete the SLEP over the 10- construction tenders. The contract in- cutters, offshore patrol cutters, polar security cutters and legacy medium

A USCG 47-foot

Motor Lifeboat endurance cutters, and extends the parent cutter’s capabilities and has the speed, endurance, communications and sensors to conduct missions far from the parent ship.

The Coast Guard acquired 174

RB-M 45-foot Response Boat-Medi- ums (RB-Ms), with the ? nal boat was produced and delivered in 2015. The

RB-M has proven effective search and rescue; ports, waterways and coastal security; law enforcement; and drug and migrant interdiction missions.

U.S. Coast Guard

The RB-Ms were built at Marinette

Marine Corp. of Marinette, Wis.

The Response Boat-Small II (RB-

S II) program delivered 370 of the 29-foot boats to the Coast Guard, with the ? nal boat delivered by Metal

Shark Aluminum Boats of Jeanerette,

La., in 2019. The 40-knot RB-s IIs are high-speed and deployable, and designed for port and waterway se- curity, search and rescue, drug and migrant interdiction, environmental and other law enforcement missions.

The Coast Guard acquired 370 RB-S

IIs at an approximate total contract www.marinelink.com MN | 29

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