
The Coast Guard on Thursday selected Eastern Shipbuilding Group as its contractor over three rivals for the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program, awarding the company $2.4 billion for detailed design of the medium-endurance vessel.Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding is a surprise winner, beating out Bollinger Shipyards, which is currently building the service's Fast Response Cutter, and General Dynamics [GD], a major shipbuilder for the Navy and commercial tankers. Earlier in the program Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] was dropped from the competition. HII…