The Coast Guard’s Facilities Design and Construction Center awarded a contract on Aug. 27 to The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company for the first phase of work to homeport future polar security cutters at Base Seattle in Seattle, Washington.
The initial contract, with a potential value of approximately $137 million, covers phase 1A and includes dredging of Slip 36 and construction of two modernized major cutter berths fully capable of hosting polar security cutters.
Dredging is required to accommodate future berthing and operations, and the Coast Guard will remove and dispose of contaminated sediment as required under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and in accordance with an Environmental Protection Agency order; the project is described as “the largest CERCLA action and removal of hazardous substances in the history of the Coast Guard.”
Phase 1A also calls for widening the slip between berths 36B and 37B, upgrading berths 37A and 37B with modernized utilities capable of hosting two new polar security cutters, demolishing an existing building and stabilizing the waterfront at Berth 36B, and recapitalizing Station Seattle’s small boat docks and boathouse.
The Coast Guard plans future awards for phases 1B and 1C to further modernize facilities and deliver four major cutter berths to support the service’s growing fleet at Base Seattle.
The work is positioned as critical to future operations to establish U.S. maritime dominance, conduct missions in high latitudes, and advance national security interests in the Arctic and Antarctic.
The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides $4.3 billion to continue construction of the polar security cutter fleet.