Sept. 7, 2017 —
The proposed OPC design is 360 feet long, with a beam of 54 feet and a draft of 17 feet. Graphic courtesy of Eastern Shipbuilding Group.
The Coast Guard exercised a fixed-price option to the service’s existing contract with Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. of Panama City, Florida, today to procure long lead time materials for the first offshore patrol cutter (OPC).
The total value of the option is $41.68 million. This covers the initial order of components and materials necessary to support the cutter’s construction including propeller and steering components, marine diesel engines, the ship integrated control system, switchboards and generators.
The OPC will bridge the capabilities of the national security cutters, which patrol the open ocean, and the fast response cutters, which serve closer to shore. The ships will replace the 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters, which entered service 30 to 50 years ago. The Coast Guard plans to acquire 25 OPCs; the current contract covers detail design and production of up to nine of the cutters and has a potential value of $2.38 billion if all options are exercised.
The first OPC, Argus, is scheduled for delivery in 2021.
For more information: Offshore Patrol Cutter Program page