Hearing Scheduled to Examine US Coast Guard Shipbuilding Delays

Eric Haun May 1, 2024

Construction of the USCG's Polar Security Cutter has fallen behind schedule. (Image: U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security will hold a hearing to discuss delays in the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) shipbuilding and acquisitions programs.

The hearing, announced by the subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) on Wednesday, will take place on May 7. It will examine the USCG's shipbuilding and acquisitions process, the state of efforts to modernize the service’s fleet and ways in which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can facilitate faster turnaround times for USCG acquisitions programs, Gimenez said.

The Coast Guard is investing billions of dollars to modernize its fleet, but its programs to build its newest cutters—the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and Polar Security Cutter (PSC)—have fallen behind schedule and are billions of dollars over their initial cost estimates, partly because the USCG didn't have the right information about technology, design or cost at key decision points, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report last year.

In addition, Coast Guard officials have pointed to a shortage of qualified shipyard workers and engineers as another cause for delays.

In the meantime, the agency has had to continue to invest to maintain its fleet of aging assets while it awaits the new ships.

“Some of the Coast Guard’s most important acquisition programs, especially the Polar Security Cutter program, continue to face costly delays and challenges that, if not addressed, will hinder the service’s ability to accomplish its dynamic mission set,” Gimenez said.

“I look forward to examining the challenges facing the Coast Guard’s acquisition process and ways to revitalize America’s shipbuilding industry to protect not only taxpayer dollars, but freedom of navigation, our economic security and U.S. sovereignty.”