On 24 June, Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. (ESG) signed a partnership agreement with Louisiana’s Bayou Metal Supply to provide material and labor in support of the production of the United States Coast Guard offshore patrol cutter (OPC) program.
ESG is the prime contractor of the OPC program and landed this exclusive materials and labor relationship to strengthen its bid for Stage II of the program which will be awarded in early 2022.
ESG awarded Bayou Metal Supply a contract in 2019 to provide material and labor to cut and fabricate aluminum superstructure subassembly panels for the OPCs.
The panels are then assembled by ESG into units that are erected onto the ship by ESG production crews.
As explained, the exclusive partnership provides materials and labor needed to expedite the construction of future vessels and supports ESG’s ability to increase production rate to multiple vessels per year.
The agreement includes the ability to router cut aluminum and utilize friction stir welding techniques in fully enclosed fabrication facilities. ESG has on-site QA personnel at the Bayou facility to ensure seamless integration and quality. The geographically separate workforce allows ESG to tap into another labor market and execute core ship construction capabilities with greater efficiency while expanding the job market potential throughout the Gulf Region.
A month ago, ESG hosted a keel-laying ceremony for the U.S. Coast Guard’s future offshore patrol cutter (OPC), USCGC Chase (WMSM-916).
USCGC Chase is expected to be completed by 2023.