Page 35: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2022)

Inside the “Largest Coast Guard

Shipbuilding Effort Since WWII”

At his fourth, and last “State of the Coast Guard” speech held earlier this year at USCG Air

Station Clearwater, Admiral Karl Schultz gave a rundown of the physical maritime assets being built to power the United States Coast Guard for the genertation to come.

The U.S. Coast Guard is engaged in which cargoes and commodities com- tenure.” its largest shipbuilding effort since the prising 25% of our nation’s gross do- And last but not least, the continuation

World War II, building a ? eet that will mestic product moves. And, for the ? rst of the Fast Response Cutters. “We’re serve the U.S. for decades to come. time in history, our entire inland ? eet building out to 64, and this ‘22 budget

Milestones include the 10th National will be able to accommodate mixed- added two more FRCs to the conversa-

Security Cutter, to be named for the ? rst gender crews, providing all junior en- tion. So now we’re 64 plus two. Six are

Master Chief Petty Of? cer of the Coast listed members these unique a? oat ex- in Bahrain, four of the six are standing

Guard - Charles Calhoun, to be chris- periences. We have this 35-ship ? eet the watch, we’ll send the next two over tened in June. ... construction tenders, river tenders ... this summer. So we are in a pretty pro-

While there have been delays, cur- where the oldest is almost 75-years-old. li? c shipbuilding phase. And we’re on rently there is detail design work un- The award should be here in the coming schedule, other than the Polar Security derway in preparation for construction months hopefully before the end of my Cutter.” of the ? rst Polar Security Cutter, to be named Polar Sentinel.

The Coast Guard’s ? rst Offshore Pa- trol Cutter, Argus, is more than 60% complete, while OPC hull number two,

Chase, is well on its way. These ? rst units are being built at Eastern Ship- building, and in the coming month(s) the Coast Guard will award the largest acquisition contract in the history of its service for the next 11 Offshore Patrol

Cutter hulls in “Stage Two” of the OPC program. The OPC program of record is 25 cutters, and delivery of this full ? eet is aimed to recapitalize the capability and capacity provided by 28 Median

Endurance Cutters, many of which are 50+ years old. “This legacy ? eet loses nearly 500 patrol days annually due to unplanned maintenance and repairs,” said Admiral Schultz.

Also on the board is progress on the acquisition of 30 Waterways Commerce

Cutters. “These new tenders will have greater endurance, speed and deck load capacity to ef? ciently maintain 28,000 aids that mark over 12,000 miles of navigable inland waterways. These aids m|;um-?om-?!;]bv|ub;vkm1l [email protected] bm-L?b-?om?b|_|_;-uv_-??v?-m7v to navigation are a critical component -ub?l;sourou-|;7lbmbv|u-|ouv www.register-iri.com of our Marine Transportation System on www.marinelink.com 35

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