The U.S. Coast Guard awarded Austal USA, based in Mobile, a contract worth a potential $3.3 billion for the design and construction of up to 11 offshore patrol cutters.
This marks Austal USA’s first USCG acquisition program and follows the company’s recent first competitive steel shipbuilding contract.
“The Austal USA team is excited to support the U.S. Coast Guard using our new steel panel line to manufacture and deliver ships highly capable of performing their critical homeland security and defense missions,” Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh said. “This contract award is the result of our continued investment in our people and our facilities. We are honored the Coast Guard has selected our team of shipbuilders to deliver its most important acquisition program. We are also thrilled for our community and our tremendous supplier base as this program will provide our shipbuilding team the backlog and stability for continued growth.”
The 360-foot offshore patrol cutters will be the majority presence for the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet and will be used for missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, and search and rescue, according to Austal. They’ll have a range of 10,200 nautical miles and a 60-day endurance period.
