The Coast Guard on Saturday in Miami is scheduled to commission its first Sentinel-class cutter, the 154-foot Bernard C. Webber Fast Response Cutter (FRC) built by Bollinger Shipyards.
The Webber is the first of 18 FRCs that are scheduled to be delivered to the 7th Coast Guard District in the next few years.
The Coast Guard has a contract with Bollinger for the production of up to 34 FRCs for $1.5 billion to replace the 110-foot Island-class patrol cutters. The FRC will typically operate close to shore and has the capacity to operate independently at sea for five days.