Bollinger delivers 22nd fast response cutter

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The following is the text of a news release from Bollinger Shipyards:

(LOCKPORT, La.) — Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the USCGC Bailey Barco, the 22nd fast response cutter (FRC), to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard took delivery on Tuesday in Key West, Fla., and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Ketchikan, Alaska in June.

"We are pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC, the USCGC Bailey Barco,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger president and CEO. "This FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards will join the USCGC John McCormick stationed in the 17th Coast Guard District in Ketchikan, Alaska and will defend our nation’s interests in the Alaskan maritime region. FRCs already in commission stationed in the mid-Atlantic and the southeastern U.S. have seized multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved many lives."

The 154-foot patrol craft is the 22nd 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. Two FRCs will now be stationed at the 17th Coast Guard District in Ketchikan. Previous cutters have been stationed in the 7th Coast Guard District in Florida or San Juan, Puerto Rico, and two have been stationed in the 5th Coast Guard District in Cape May, N.J. 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, the latest 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 Bailey Barco, who was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on Oct. 7, 1901 for his heroic and selfless action to rescue the crew of Jennie Hall, a schooner that had been grounded during a severe winter storm off the coast of Virginia Beach, Va.

By Professional Mariner Staff