WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard Wednesday awarded a $250 million contract to Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport to build six Fast Response Cutters. The contract will keep 1,200 people employed, according to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who helped secure the funding in the 2013 Homeland Security spending bill. "This follow-on award will continue to provide hundreds of jobs for our...
WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard Wednesday awarded a $250 million contract to Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport to build six Fast Response Cutters. The contract will keep 1,200 people employed, according to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who helped secure the funding in the 2013 Homeland Security spending bill.
"This follow-on award will continue to provide hundreds of jobs for our employees and our Louisiana supplier network," said Chris Bollinger, president of Bollinger Shipyards. He thanked Landrieu for securing the funding.
His father, Boysie Bollinger, a Louisiana Republican leader and CEO and chairman of the family operated shipyard, broke with his party earlier this year to endorse Landrieu's 2014 re-election bid.
According to Landrieu's office, the Coast Guard intends to acquire 58 Fast Response Cutters, of which 24 have already been funded.
"For the Coast Guard to keep carrying outs its vital role in protecting our nation, we must replace its aging fleet," said Landrieu, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. "That is why I continued to focus a portion of the Homeland Security budget on investing in these exceptional ships that will allow the Coast Guard to carry out critical lifesaving, law enforcement and homeland security missions."
According to Bollinger Shipyards, the fast response cutters measure 154-ft x 26-ft x 9.5-ft and are capable of a top speed over 28 knots. The cutters' missions include search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, drug and illegal migrant interdiction, homeland security and maritime defense.
The company started building the cutters in 2008.
