Bollinger Shipyards delivers final Marine Protector-class CPB

It was a sad, yet exciting occasion Friday as Bollinger Shipyards Inc. in Lockport delivered the final Marine Protector-class Coastal Patrol Boat (CPB) to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Completion of the Sea Fox ends the CPB contract first awarded to Bollinger in 1996.

The day also marked Bollinger beginning work on the new Fast Response Cutter (FRC)/Sentinel-class patrol boats. The Coast Guard awarded Bollinger the $88 million contract with a potential $1.5 billion value if all options are exercised last September.

Flanked by congressional and Coast Guard dignitaries, the Bollinger family marked the commemoration with hundreds of their employees.

“Today is about a celebration of success with our best customer,” said CEO and Chairman of the Board Donald “Boysie” Bollinger. “Let’s hope some of us are around when that vessel’s fleet needs to be replaced.”

“We’re very sad to see the Sea Fox leave. This contract was suppose to end at 51 vessels, and now we’re at 75,” said Christopher Bollinger, executive vice president of new construction. “We’re excited to see the workmanship continue as we start the next contract for 36 boats.”

Bollinger Shipyards has built all 124 previous cutters awarded by the Coast Guard.

With the Sentinel deal expecting to provide employment for about 500 workers over the next decade, the economic impact was of key importance to political leaders.

“This (CPB) class was a great success, and the fact that Bollinger won the contract for the new class is enormously important to this region,” said U.S. Sen. David Vitter. “It means continuing to provide really good-paying jobs.”

“This is the beginning of the third era for the Bollinger Shipyard family,” said U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon. “This is the third construction of military vessels they have built over the last 30 years. It’s a testament that the Coast Guard recognizes the skill and work ethic of south Louisianans.”

The 87-foot CPBs play a major supporting role in numerous Coast Guard missions, including fisheries enforcement, search and rescue and intercepting illegal immigrants and narcotics.

Chief Warrant Officer Michael Lemay will be the commanding officer of the Sea Fox and deliver it to its homeport in Bangor, Wash. He was impressed with a tour of his new vessel.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “The stern launch is a big asset because we can launch a small boat easily. The propulsion system is awesome. The navigation system is just spectacular.”

The new 154-foot FRC/Sentinel-class is replacing the 110-foot Island-class cutters Bollinger Shipyards started building in the 1980s.

According to Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, Coast Guard assistant commandant for acquisition, the FRC will take features from larger Coast Guard ships and fit them within the confines of a patrol boat.

“The Sentinel-class is a patrol boat like a truck is a car,” Blore said. “The Sentinels are bigger, just as fast if not faster, better accommodations, much more firepower. It has a remotely operated 25mm chain gun and four .50-caliber machine guns. It can carry a 22-person crew, perform independently for a minimum of five days at sea and be away for 2,500 hours per year.”

The FRC is still in the design phase. Christopher Bollinger estimates it will take 18 months to build the first Sentinel-class boat and deliver it to Coast Guard District 7 based in Miami in the fall of 2010. After that he expects the company to complete a new Sentinel every eight weeks.

Representing the workers at the ceremony, L.J. Adams, structural foreman and 41-year Bollinger employee, summed up the time and dedication they feel in constructing each ship.

“It’s the challenge of taking raw steel and a set of drawings, along with a team effort of building and erecting modulars and launching the vessels,” he said. “After it’s all said and done, you have the feeling of pride watching a new vessel sail down the bayouside either as a workboat or as a vessel designed to serve our country.”

Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore (far left), Christopher Bollinger (second from left), U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon and U.S. Sen. David Vitter commemorate dual occasions – the launching of the 87-foot Sea Fox CPB and Bollinger Shipyards beginning work on the new Fast Response Cutter Sentinel-class patrol boat. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF