Mobile, Ala., June 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Austal USA was awarded a contract with a potential value of $3.3 billion for the detail design and construction of up to 11 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) for the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The award marks Austal USA’s first USCG acquisition program and follows the company’s recent win of their first competitive steel shipbuilding contract, the U.S. Navy’s Auxiliary Floating Drydock Medium (AFDM).
The OPC program is the Coast Guard’s highest investment priority as it will recapitalize the aging endurance cutters and provide a capability bridge between the service’s national security cutters which operate in the open ocean and the fast response cutters which operate closer to shore.
Austal USA will construct the OPC using its proven ship manufacturing processes and innovative production methods that incorporate lean manufacturing principles, modular construction, and moving assembly lines in the company’s new state-of-the-art enclosed steel production facility.
“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…
