Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] on Friday said it has successfully completed three days of builder’s sea trials for the fourth National Security Cutter (NSC), a key milestone ahead of the scheduled delivery of the vessel in September.
The Coast Guard plans to conduct acceptance trials for the Hamilton in August and take delivery of the cutter on Sept. 15. Commissioning of the vessel is planned for Dec. 6 in Charleston, S.C.
The builder’s trials included testing of the propulsion, electrical, damage control, anchor handling, small boat operations and combat systems, culminating in a four-hour, full-power propulsion run.
“The ship and the Ingalls-Coast Guard team performed flawlessly,” Richard Schenk, Ingalls’ vice president of Program Management and Test and Trials, said in a statement. “Our operating crew performed more than 180 events and showed tremendous professionalism. The ship is clearly ready for acceptance trials in August.”
The Coast Guard plans to acquire eight NSCs, which make up the high-endurance component of the service’s fleet. Three vessels, including the Hamilton, are still under construction and NSC-7, the Kimball, is scheduled to begin construction in early 2015.
HII builds the NSCs at its Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Mississippi.