UPDATE AUSTAL USA WINS OPC AWARD WITH
$3.3 BILLION POTENTIAL
THE COAST GUARD HAS AWARDED AUSTAL USA, MOBILE, ALA., a contract
to produce up to 11 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs). The initial award is valued at $208.26 million and supports detail design and long lead-time material for the fifth OPC, with options for production of up to 11 OPCs in total. The contract has a potential value of up to $3.33 billion if all options are exercised. The Coast Guard revised its OPC acquisition strategy after the original prime contractor for the whole of the OPC program, Panama City, Fla.-based Eastern Shipbuilding, submitted a request to the Coast Guard’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security for extraordinary contract relief after its facilities sustained significant damage resulting from Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm, that struck in October 2018. In response, then Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan made the decision to grant the requested relief, but limited to the first four hulls. Follow ing that, the Coast Guard
established a new competition for OPCs five and through 15, designated as Stage 2 of the overall program. In additional to Austal USA, companies that bid for it included Eastern, Bollinger and Huntington Ingalls Industries. The Coast Guard aims to build 25 OPCs in total, suggesting that at some point there will be a Stage 3 of the program. The Coast Guard says its requirements for OPC Stage 2 detail design and production were developed “to maintain commonality with earlier OPCs in critical areas such as the hull and propulsion systems, but provide flexibility to propose and implement new design elements that benefit lifecycle cost, production and operational efficiency and performance.” That indicates that externally, the Austal-built OPCs will look a lot like the Eastern-built ships. In a stock exchange announcement, Austal USA’s parent Austal Limited said that construction of the 110-meter OPCs would take place at Austal USA’s new $100 million steel shipbuilding facility in Mobile. CEO Paddy
Gregg said the new contract was the third steel shipbuilding program awarded to Austal USA and acknowledged the expanded capability of the shipyard. “This contract award is the result of our continued investment in our people and our facilities,” said Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh. “We are thrilled for the opportunities this will bring to our local community and our tremendous supplier base, as this program will provide our shipbuilding team the stability for continued growth.” U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.) was less thrilled. “Today’s decision is short-sighted,” Rubio said when the award to Austal was announced. “When I visited Eastern Shipbuilding last year, I saw first-hand their commitment to building reliable, state-ofthe-art ships. They have proven they can do the job and do it well. This decision will cost taxpayers more money and slow down the delivery of these critical vessels.”
For more information, visit: wsdot.wa.gov/ construction-planning/major-projects/ ferry-system-electrification.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION COMING SUMMER 2022 10 Marine Log // July 2022
Photo Credit: USCG/Austal
Washington State Ferries to seek proposals for construction of 5 hybrid-electric Olympic class vessels
