Bollinger delivers "Bailey Barco", the 22nd Fast Response Cutter to USCG
Lockport, USA based Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the USCGC BAILEY BARCO, the 22nd Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard took delivery on February 7, 2017 in Key West, Florida and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Ketchikan, Alaska in June, 2017, the shipbuilding company said Wednesday.
"We are pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC, the USCGC BAILEY BARCO,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger President & C.E.O. This FRC built by Bollinger Shipyards will join the USCGC JOHN MCCORMICK stationed in the 17th Coast Guard District in Ketchikan, Alaska and will defend our Nation’s interests in the Alaskan maritime region. FRCs already in commission stationed in the mid-Atlantic and the South Eastern U.S. have seized multiple tons of narcotics, interdicted thousands of illegal aliens and saved many lives. The FRC program is a model program for government acquisition and has surpassed all historical quality benchmarks for vessels of this type and complexity. The results are the delivery of truly extraordinary Coast Guard cutters that will serve our Nation for decades to come. We at Bollinger Shipyards are looking forward to hearing of the heroic exploits of the BAILEY BARCO as it joins the Coast Guard’s operational fleet.”
The 154 foot patrol craft USCGC BAILEY BARCO is the 22nd vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. The FRC has been described as an operational "game changer,” by senior Coast Guard officials. Two FRC’s will now be stationed at the 17th Coast Guard District in Ketchikan, Alaska. Previous cutters have been stationed in the 7th Coast Guard District in Florida or San Juan, PR, and two have been stationed in the 5th Coast Guard District in Cape May, NJ. To build the FRC, Bollinger used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessel’s 26 foot cutter boat.
Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero Bailey Barco, who was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on October 7, 1901 for his heroic and selfless action to rescue the crew of the Jennie Hall, a schooner that had been grounded during a severe winter storm off the coast of Virginia Beach, VA.
Bollinger Shipyards LLC is a leading designer and builder of fast military patrol boats, ocean-going double hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tug boats, rigs, liftboats, inland waterways push boats, barges, and other steel and aluminum products from its new construction shipyards. Bollinger has 10 shipyards and all are strategically located throughout Louisiana with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway. Bollinger is the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region.
