(PANAMA CITY, Fla.) — Eastern Shipbuilding Group has confirmed the suspension of the offshore patrol cutter (OPC) program, citing financial strain related to the project’s structure and conditions, WMBB News 13 and MyPanhandle.com reported.
The shipbuilder also confirmed that the company had to lay off workers, calling the decision “extremely” difficult but necessary to remain financially stable.
“Despite our best efforts, continuing under the current circumstances is not sustainable,” Joey D’Isernia, CEO of Eastern Shipbuilding Group, said in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately, we also had to reduce our workforce – an extremely hard step, as our people are the strength of this company. This action allows us to remain financially stable and focused on delivering for our government and commercial customers.”
The 360-foot Heritage-class cutters are designed to bridge the gap between the U.S. Coast Guard’s 418-foot national security cutters and its 154-foot fast response cutters. The OPCs will replace the service’s 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters, many of which are past retirement age.
The Coast Guard initially planned to acquire 25 OPCs. Eastern was awarded the contract to design and construct the vessels in 2016 as part of a nine-vessel procurement. The contract was modified after Hurricane Michael damaged Eastern’s Panama City shipyard in 2018, and the program was split into two stages. In 2022, Austal USA was awarded the contract for the first OPC in stage 2, with options for additional vessels.
The first OPC, Argus, was originally scheduled for delivery in 2021. It was launched by Eastern in October 2023 and was being outfitted for delivery in 2026. In July, the Department of Homeland Security terminated the orders for the third and fourth OPCs from Eastern, although work had begun on both.
The contract for the second OPC, Icarus, was optioned to Austal USA in August.
