Financial constraints have forced Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Panama City, Fla., to break off construction on the U.S. Coast Guard’s 360'x54' Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter program, according to the shipyard’s CEO Joey D’Isernia.
“Eastern Shipbuilding Group has made the difficult decision to suspend work on the Offshore Patrol Cutter program due to significant financial strain caused by the program’s structure and conditions. Despite our best efforts, continuing under the current circumstances is not sustainable,” D’Isernia said in a statement emailed to WorkBoat. “Unfortunately, we also had to reduce our workforce — an extremely hard step, as our people are the strength of this company.”
The Coast Guard, which has been plagued by budget woes, has not made any public statement concerning the work stoppage as yet.
Eastern had been working on four OPCs prior to the suspension of work on the contract. D'Isernia said the action was necessary in order for the shipyard to “remain financially stable and focused on delivering for our government and commercial customers.”
Back in June, during a Maritime Transportation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, it was revealed that Eastern had told the Coast Guard it could not complete the OPC contract without taking a financial loss that it could not afford. As a result, the service issued stop work orders on hulls three and four.
“Our shipyards will continue to build quality American vessels and support the regional economy. We’ve overcome a major hurricane and a global pandemic, and we will overcome this challenge as well,” D’Isernia said. “We are grateful for our team’s professionalism and for the ongoing trust of our customers and community. Eastern Shipbuilding Group remains firmly committed to American shipbuilding.”
In September 2016, the Coast Guard awarded the contract to design and build the first series of nine OPCs to Eastern. The initial contract for detailed design work was worth $110.29 million. The contract contained options for two additional vessels.
Eastern’s design includes the following: 360'x54', a draft of 17 feet, speed in excess of 22 knots, a range of 10,200 nautical miles (at 14 knots), endurance for 60-day patrol cycles, capable of carrying an MH-60R or MH-65 helicopter and three over-the-horizon (OTH) cutter boats.
The OPC will conduct missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction search and rescue, and other homeland security and defense operations. Each OPC will feature a flight deck and advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment.
The OPC is designed to bridge the capabilities of the 418' national security cutters, which patrol the open ocean, and the 154' fast response cutters, which serve closer to shore. The ships are replacing the 270' and 210' medium endurance cutters, which have been in service for 30 to 50 years.
In 2023, Eastern christened and launched the Argus, the Coast Guard's first Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC).
"We are proud to christen this first-of-class national security asset in front of her crew," D'Isernia said at the time. "With each milestone we reach, our employees are constructing the most advanced and capable ship the U.S. Coast Guard has ever seen."
The OPC is designed to conduct an array of missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, search and rescue, disaster relief, and other homeland security and defense operations in support of the nation's maritime security and border protection. The vessel is also equipped with a highly sophisticated Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) suite that will greatly enhance the Coast Guard's mission capabilities.
