La. Legislature votes to abolish insurance regulating panel
July 4, 2007Gertrude Rodrigue
July 6, 2007
Bollinger Shipyards has signed a contract with the United States Coast Guard to build eight more 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boats (CPBs) at its Lockport facility.
Since 1996, Bollinger has constructed 67 CPBs for the Coast Guard. The company has built all the CPBs in the Coast Guard fleet, including the one at the station on Grand Isle.
The boats are used for search and rescue, and to combat smuggling and illegal immigration. They are equipped with two 50-caliber machine guns, and small arms.
The eight new boats, which are in the Marine Protector Class, are identical to the 67 previously built by the shipyard.
Although Bollinger could not state the price of the eight new vessels, the first CPB constructed by the company in 1996 cost $8.9 million.
The completion date for the eight boats is set for the second quarter of 2009. Engineering work has already commenced, said Robert Socha, executive vice president of sales and marketing.
The Marine Protector Class boats replaced the 82-foot Point Class vessels. The latter had to stop for at least five minutes to retrieve pursuit inflatable boats with a small crane.
The Marine Protector Class vessels have a stern launching system requiring a single crewmember to be on deck to retrieve a boarding party.
The boats accommodate a mixed-gender crew of 10 members. All recently built Coast Guard vessels have male and female berths.
The CPBs attain a maximum speed of 25 knots, and a patrol speed of not less than 10 knots. Both velocities are Coast Guard requirements.
Each boat contains one three-person stateroom, and four two-person staterooms.
Socha said that Congress’ recent demand that Bollinger pay the federal government back for inadequate renovation work the government says the shipyard performed on a group of Coast Guard cutters “has been no problem.”
“It’s an indicator how successful these vessels (the CPBs) are,” he said.
Bollinger has been producing boats for the Coast Guard since 1984.
Bollinger Shipyard’s Lockport facility has been hired to build eight more 87-foot Coastal Patrol Boats. Since 1996, the shipyard has constructed 67 CPBs for the Coast Guard. * Photo courtesy of Bollinger Shipyards
