Coast Guard Exercises OPC Options With Austal

Austal USA of Mobile recently announced that the U.S. Coast Guard exercised options worth $314 million to Austal for the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program. The options provide Austal approval to order long-lead-time materials (LLTM) for another three OPCs, Austal USA’s fourth, fifth and sixth cutters. Funds have also been provided for logistic supply items for two OPCs. The original contract, awarded to Austal in June 2022, included detail design and construction for up to 11 OPCs with a potential value of $3.3 billion. To date, two of 11 OPCs in the contract have been awarded to Austal. Work on Austal USA’s first OPC, Pickering, is well underway, with the keel laying planned for December. Construction began on Icarus in early August.