
The Coast Guard last Friday awarded contracts to eight shipbuilders for design studies for the follow-on detailed design and construction of the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program, which the service reopened to competition last year after deciding to terminate the contract with the existing shipbuilder after up to four vessels are built. The nine awardees include Austal USA, Bollinger Shipyards, General Dynamics’ [GD] Bath Iron Works, Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG), which is the current OPC shipbuilder, Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Huntington…