The Department of Homeland Security has approved full production of the first U.S. Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (PSC). The Service also received approval for low-rate initial production of the Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC).
The long-delayed project entails the replacement of the Polar Star, the sole remaining U.S. heavy icebreaker. It facilitates the ability of shipbuilder Bollinger to ramp up hiring, allowing it to deliver the ship as quickly as possible.
The PSC is the first heavy polar icebreaker to be built in the U.S. in nearly five decades. The Coast Guard is the sole federal agency responsible for icebreaking. Accordingly, the Service must replace, modernize, and grow its fleet of icebreakers to assure U.S. access and sovereignty in the polar regions. The U.S. Coast Guard is committed to working with the Administration and Congress to fulfill the President’s direction on icebreaker acquisition.
The production decision for the WCC program entails the first eight hulls of the River Buoy Tender (WLR) and Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) – WCC variants that are being acquired under a single contract, due to significant design and systems commonality.
The Coast Guard plans to acquire 16 WLRs and 11 WLICs to recapitalize the Service’s aging and increasingly obsolescent inland tender fleet, which supports the Nation’s Marine Transportation System, facilitating the safe movement of over $5.4 trillion in annual commerce and 30 million jobs. Deliveries of both the lead WLR and WLIC are planned to occur in fiscal year 2027. A third WCC variant, the inland buoy tender, will be acquired under a separate contract.
The program kicked off with a contract award to VT Halter, then owned by Singapore’s ST Engineering. Bollinger took over when it bought VT Halter in 2022. Last March, the USCG awarded Bollinger a $950 million contract modification to underwrite the extra expenses. The timeline for delivery is now in 2030, six years behind schedule.
“Hard work and dedication have successfully put the PSC program on a strong path forward after a rocky start under the previous, foreign-owned builder,” declared Ben Bordelon, President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, in March.
(Image from USCG/VT Halter)