Austal USA hosts U.S. Coast Guard Chief Acquisition Officer
MOBILE, Ala. – Austal USA welcomed U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Douglas Schofield, Assistant Commandant for Acquisition & Chief Acquisition Officer (CG-9), at the company’s Mobile, Ala. shipyard today. Admiral Schofield toured the shipyard’s facilities and discussed the company’s contract for the Coast Guard’s Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). Austal USA has been working alongside the Coast Guard to validate the functional design and complete detail design efforts for the OPC that will lead to improvements for overall construction and producibility. Long lead time material contracts have been awarded to our key vendors such as Fairbanks Morse Defense to support construction on the lead hull beginning next summer.
Austal USA leadership briefed Admiral Schofield on the company’s high-tech steel shipbuilding production line which has resulted in Austal USA’s capability to manufacture increasingly complex ships and components. The 117,000 square foot steel line addition houses the latest state-of-the-art computerized and robotic steel processing equipment to handle the current and future demands of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard.
A 60,000 square foot stock yard is utilized for handling the raw steel and a 19,500 square foot paint facility provides the ability to paint and blast simultaneously in two separate cells, or both cells can be combined providing the ability to paint super-modules. The paint facility was put to use for the first time this week as the first module for the U.S. Navy’s towing, salvage and rescue ship program rolled off the assembly line into the building.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to show off our facility and our shipbuilders to a new customer, the Coast Guard,” stated Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh. “We have invested a lot of time and money into developing successful manufacturing processes, and leveraging our talented workforce, I am thrilled to see our hard work result in new contracts from the Coast Guard.”
Coinciding with Austal USA’s facility investments totaling more than $560 million, are expansions to its product lines. Growing from being the prime contractor of the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship and EPF programs, Austal USA is now under contract for numerous additional shipbuilding programs across the Navy and Coast Guard.
Austal USA has delivered 29 battle force ships to the Navy since 2009. The company’s investments have also included the establishment of ship service facilities in Mobile, Ala., San Diego, Calif., and Singapore and a facility for advanced technologies in Charlottesville, Va.
