Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the 154'x25' Nathan Bruckenthal, the 28th Sentinel-class fast response cutter (FRC) to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard took delivery in late March in Key West, Fla. The vessel’s commissioning is scheduled for July in Washington D.C.
To build the FRC, Bollinger used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. The cutter has a displacement of 353 tons, a flank speed of 28 knots, state-of-the-art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessel’s 26' cutter boat. The boat is powered by twin 20-cylinder MTU diesels producing a total of 5,762 hp.
“We are proud to announce the delivery of the latest FRC, the Nathan Bruckenthal,” Ben Bordelon, Bollinger president & C.E.O., said in a prepared statement. "We are extremely proud that the fast response cutters built by Louisiana craftsmen here at Bollinger Shipyards are having such a major impact on our country’s safety and security.”
The FRC will be the second to be stationed in Atlantic Beach, N.C. Previous cutters have been stationed around the U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii.
Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Nathan Bruckenthal. In April 2004 while serving aboard the USS Firebolt, Bruckenthal was killed in the line of duty while conducting maritime intercept operations in the North Arabian Gulf. For heroic achievement in connection with combat operations against the enemy Bruckenthal was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”. Petty Officer 3rd Class Bruckenthal was also posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
Bollinger is a designer and builder of fast military patrol boats, oceangoing double-hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tugs, rigs, liftboats, inland waterways pushboats, barges, and other steel and aluminum products. Bollinger has 10 shipyards located throughout Louisiana with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway. Bollinger is the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region, the company said.
