Category Archives: WCC

“…acquisition of this shipyard will ensure the successful delivery of the Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) Program” –Birdon America

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Below is a Birdon America press release. More money invested in American shipyards is always good news.

Thanks to Lee for bringing this to my attention.

Birdon Strengthens Portfolio with Acquisition of Metal Shark Boats Shipyard
5 February 2024

On 31 January 2023, Birdon America Inc. acquired Metal Shark Boats’ 32-acre shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. This acquisition brings a fully developed shipyard into Birdon’s growing portfolio of facilities throughout the US and will allow us to provide a further range of shipbuilding and repair services.

The acquisition of this shipyard will ensure the successful delivery of the Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) Program, a vital component of Birdon’s $1.187 billion contract to design and build 27 new vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Birdon Group CEO, Jamie Bruce said, “The investment in this facility will not only ensure we deliver on our promise to the US Coast Guard, but it will also provide an opportunity for our subcontract partners in southern Alabama to build and install all components of these vessels in one location.”

“I am extremely grateful to Metal Shark CEO Chris Allard and his team for collaborating diligently with us, in a short period, to complete this deal,” he said.

As part of the acquisition, Metal Shark’s existing workforce will transfer to Birdon and will continue to execute the current order book of repair work. In the near term, Birdon plans to make significant capital outlays in the shipyard’s infrastructure as a further investment in the future. This will foster job creation, accelerate technological advancement, and provide positive growth to the region’s economy. A direct result will be the creation of 300 new jobs in the area over the next two years.

This is a fully developed shipyard fronting a dredged deepwater inlet. It includes five steel buildings for fully self-contained fabrication and construction work, with over 1,700′ of waterfront, a 660-ton Travelift, multiple cranes, and all required equipment for the construction of steel and aluminum vessels up to 300’ in length and 1,500 tons launch weight. The shipyard is situated just minutes from the Intracoastal Waterway with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico.

“Ohio River Bomb Spree Shows Need For New Coast Guard Waterways Commerce Cutters” –Forbes

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USCGC Smilax (WLIC-315)

Craig Hooper has another pro-Coast Guard post in Forbes.

It talks about a domestic terrorism incident as a justification for the Waterways Commerce Cutter program.

The program already seems to be progressing well with essentially no opposition.

The article goes a bit beyond advocating for the program as it exists now.

“—the emerging threat of domestic terrorism suggests that these vessels may need to enhance their disaster response capabilities faster than the Coast Guard expects. Better communications, better situational awareness resources and better resources to keep crew safe may be quite useful over the three or four decades. Fittings for chemical sensors, extra protective gear storage, unmanned platform capabilities, and better decontamination resources all ensure these Cutters will be viable over the long-term.”

Take a look. I am not enthusiastic about Hooper’s suggested upgrades, but I have a lot of respect for his opinion, so would not dismiss them out of hand.

“Coast Guard releases draft waterways commerce cutter specifications, plans industry engagement” –CG-9

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USCGC Smilax (WLIC-315)

This from CG-9:

Oct. 16, 2019 —

The Coast Guard released draft specifications for the river buoy tender and inland construction tender variants of the waterways commerce cutter (WCC) in a special notice Oct. 15.

The WCC program also plans to exhibit and present updates at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans Dec. 4-6. The program will have a booth and provide information about its mission needs, status, and desired fielding schedule during a presentation Wednesday, Dec. 4 from 11 a.m. to noon CST. Additionally, a team of program members will be available to meet one-on-one with interested ship construction and design teams consisting of shipyards with design capability or ship designers teamed with shipbuilders. The deadline to request a meeting is Nov. 11.

Both the draft specifications and the one-on-one meeting request link are available here.

For more information: Waterways Commerce Cutter program page

Following the link, there is a little information about the conceptual design, and the way the Coast Guard intends to interface with the workboat construction community that I have reproduced below. Distribution of the specs themselves are limited. 

This special notice is issued for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) program office. General questions may be directed to wcc@uscg.mil.

DRAFT SPECIFICATION: In continuance of its plan to replace the capabilities of 13 Inland Construction Tenders (WLIC) and 18 River Buoy Tenders (WLR), the USCG is releasing a draft specification with drawings and project peculiar documents (PPD). All of the above are current versions and subject to change. The draft specification is for two mono-hull ship variants with a common after-body as the materiel solutions to replace the WLIC and WLR. (emphasis applied–Chuck) While the draft specification is unclassified, parties interested in viewing it must request explicit access via the Federal Business Opportunities web site. The USCG Contracting Officer will decide all requests for access.

MEETINGS WITH SHIPBUILDERS AND SHIP DESIGNERS: The WCC Program plans to attend the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans, LA December 4-6, 2019. USCG representatives will take this opportunity to meet one-on-one with shipbuilder and ship design teams (i.e., shipyards with design capability or ship designers teamed with shipyards). To request a meeting during the International WorkBoat Show, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your internet browser. The deadline to request a meeting is November 11, 2019

https://einvitations.afit.edu/inv/anim.cfm?i=472262&k=0666400B7D55

Shipbuilder and ship design teams not able to meet during the International WorkBoat Show may request a phone conference or meeting in Washington, DC by emailing wcc@uscg.mil. Because of resource constraints, the USCG will meet one-on-one only with shipyards with design capability or ship designers teamed with shipyards.

The WCC program will also staff a booth during the International WorkBoat Show and will provide information about its mission needs, status, and desired fielding schedule during a presentation on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT. The presentation will include time for questions. All information provided in the presentation (including questions and answers) and booth handouts will be made available on the program’s website:

https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Acquisitions-CG-9/Programs/Surface-Programs/WCC/