Washington – The U.S. Coast Guard selected Austal USA over Eastern Shipbuilding Group to build the next 11 Offshore Patrol Cutters. This decision was recently unsealed by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In the documents, the court ruled against Eastern Shipbuilding, and noted that Austal’s indoor steel assembly facility and lower price tag were highly valued by the Coast Guard.
The court revealed that Eastern’s bid was judged to present less risk and included a superior design approach. However, Austal’s indoor assembly facility was the only bidder credited with a “significant strength.”
Austal’s proposal came to $3.22 billion, or about $292 million per hull. Eastern protested the award to the Government Accountability Office and later appealed the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In the 2016 deal, Eastern’s winning bid came to about $264 million per hull.
The Coast Guard rebid the program in 2018, and selected Austal to build the next phase of 11 ships in June 2022. The court document reveals that the Coast Guard was drawn to the resilience of Austal’s facilities. Austal had previously built only aluminum ships at the Alabama yard.
The Coast Guard acknowledged Austal’s steel manufacturing line is new which creates some risk. However, it noted that only one OPC could be built in the indoor facility at a time. The Coast Guard said it was comfortable managing the risk and the court found it did not have the authority to second-guess that determination.
