The following is the text of a news release from Bollinger Shipyards:
(LOCKPORT, La.) — Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the Herbierto Hernandez, the 14th fast response cutter (FRC), to the United States Coast Guard.
The announcement was made by Bollinger’s president and CEO, Ben Bordelon: “We are very pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards, the Herbierto Hernandez, to the 7th Coast Guard District in Puerto Rico. We are looking forward to honoring and celebrating the heroic acts of Hernandez at the vessel’s commissioning.”
The 154-foot patrol craft is the 14th vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. 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. The FRC has been described as an operational “game changer” by senior Coast Guard officials.
The Coast Guard took delivery on July 30 in Key West, Fla., and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Puerto Rico during October.
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 Heriberto Hernandez. Hernandez, a fireman aboard the 82-foot Coast Guard cutter Point Cypress, made the ultimate sacrifice as he braved enemy gunfire in South Vietnam while patrolling the Vietnamese coastline. For his bravery as he faced the enemy, Hernandez was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal and the Bronze Star Medal with the Combat “V” device.
Bollinger Shipyards LLC (www.bollingershipyards.com) is a leading designer and builder of fast military patrol boats, oceangoing double-hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tugboats, rigs, lift boats, inland waterways pushboats, barges, and other steel and aluminum products from its new construction shipyards. Bollinger has 10 shipyards and all are strategically located between New Orleans and Houston 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 with 30 dry docks in Louisiana and Texas.
