Maritime
Bollinger Delivers USCG’s Fast
Response Cutter ‘Benjamin
Dailey’
L
OCKPORT, La., Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the
USCGC BENJAMIN DAILEY, the 23rd Fast Response
Cutter (FRC) to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast
Guard took delivery on April 20, 2017 in Key West,
Florida and the vessel’s commissioning is scheduled
for July 4, 2017 in Pascagoula, MS.
“We are pleased to announce the delivery of the
latest FRC, the USCGC BENJAMIN DAILEY,” said Ben
Bordelon, Bollinger President & C.E.O. “This FRC built
by Bollinger Shipyards will be stationed in Pascagoula, MS. FRCs
already in commission stationed in the mid-Atlantic and the South
Eastern U.S. have seized multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted
thousands of illegal aliens and saved many lives. In just one case, on
February 28, 2017 the Coast Guard announced that the Coast Guard
Cutter JOSEPH NAPIER, a Bollinger built FRC, had seized 4.2 tons
of cocaine in international waters north of Paramaribo, Suriname,
in the Atlantic Ocean. The FRC program is a model program for
government acquisition and has surpassed all historical quality
benchmarks for vessels of this type and complexity. The results
are the delivery of truly extraordinary Coast Guard cutters that will
serve our Nation for decades to come. We are extremely proud that
the Fast Response Cutters built locally on the bayou by Louisiana
craftsmen are having such a major impact on our nation’s security.
We at Bollinger Shipyards are looking forward to hearing of the
heroic exploits of the USCGC BENJAMIN DAILEY as it joins the Coast
Guard’s operational fleet.”
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Image Credits: bollingershipyards.com
The 154 foot patrol craft USCGC BENJAMIN DAILEY is the 23rd
vessel in the Coast Guard’s Sentinel-class FRC program. The FRC
has been described as an operational “game changer,” by senior
Coast Guard officials. This will be the first FRC to be stationed in
the 8th Coast Guard District in Pascagoula, MS. Previous cutters
have been stationed in Florida, San Juan, PR, Cape May, NJ and
Ketchikan, AK. To build the FRC, Bollinger used a proven, in-service
parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. It
has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control,
communications and computer technology, and a stern launch
system for the vessel’s 26 foot cutter boat.
Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who
distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named
after Coast Guard Hero Benjamin Dailey. Dailey, Keeper of the Cape
Hatteras Life-Saving Station, was awarded the Gold Lifesaving
Medal on April 24, 1885 for his exceptional bravery in one of the
most daring rescues by the Life-Saving Service.
Bollinger Shipyards LLC (www.bollingershipyards.com) is a
leading designer and builder of fast military patrol boats, ocean-
going double hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tug
boats, rigs, liftboats, inland waterways push boats, barges, and
other steel and aluminum products from its new construction
shipyards. Bollinger has 10 shipyards and all are strategically located
throughout Louisiana with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico,
Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway. Bollinger is the
largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region.