The Navy’s Big Fleet of Small Boats
The Navy is known for its big ships. It has a lot of smaller boats and craft, too—3,200 of them.The three primary stakeholders for these craft are the Surface Fleet, Commander Navy Installations Command and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. Other stakeholders include Submarine Forces; Air Forces (which own the aircraft carriers); Naval Special Warfare; the Coast Guard; Naval Facilities Command and the Naval Warfare Centers.Boats and craft are procured and managed by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Program Executive Office for Ships (PEO Ships)…
Metal Shark Delivers Patrol Boat to the Dominican Republic
Shipbuilder Metal Shark has delivered an 85- by 19.5-foot welded aluminum Near Coastal Patrol Vessel (NCPV) to the Dominican Republic’s Navy under a $54 million U.S. Navy contract to produce up to 13 Defiant-class patrol craft for U.S. partner nations.Christened Betelgeuse in keeping with the Dominican tradition of naming military vessels after constellations, the new patrol craft was built at Metal Shark’s Franklin, La. shipyard and officially incorporated into the Dominican…
U.S. Shipyards Competing – and Succeeding – Overseas
Foreign Demand For U.S. Military And Commercial Vessels Is Brisk; For Now. In the heavy shadow of possible sequestration-induced federal budget cuts, some U.S. companies are busy supplying vessels to overseas customers under the Navy’s Foreign Military Sales program and through private contracts to foreign government and firms. Demand for offshore oil vessels is strong. A big chunk of overseas business now is under the U.S. FMS, transferring defense equipment, services and training to other nations. Countries approved for the FMS pay for vessels themselves and/or with U.S. government help.
At Least 15 Missing After Boat Sinks
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter and helicopter plucked more than a dozen fishermen from the Atlantic after their boat capsized, but at least 15 others were missing. The 52-foot Abra Cadabra, carrying at least 34 fishermen, was sailing to a popular fishing bank off the Dominican Republic's north coast when it capsized, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Another boat rescued two of the fishermen some 20 miles north of the Dominican town of Montecristi on Tuesday and reported the sinking to the Dominican navy, which asked the U.S. Coast Guard for help. The Coast Guard said it sent an HU-25 Falcon jet and two cutters to the scene, along with helicopters and planes based in Borinquen, Puerto Rico; Clearwater, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama. A Dominican Republic naval vessel also searched for survivors.
