Birdon has received an extension to a United States Coast Guard contract for up to another 72 lifeboats to receive significant overhauls and upgrades.
This modification extends the term of the initial Birdon’s 47’ Motor Lifeboat (MLB) Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) contract through order years six to ten.
“The unilateral contract modification speaks to the Coast Guard’s confidence in Birdon’s abilities as a major contractor,” said MLB program manager Patrick Kinser. “We are fully committed to continuing to deliver high quality boats on schedule to operational units on both coasts.”
In 2019, Birdon was awarded a ten-year contract to perform a 20-year service life extension for the U.S. Coast Guard’s 47’ Motor Lifeboat fleet and extend the useful life of the fleet through to 2047.
Since the contract was awarded, Birdon has established production facilities on both the East and West coasts to facilitate a bi-coastal delivery process.
Contract extension
To date, Birdon has delivered 19 47’ MLBs to operational units, with another 19 47ft MLBs currently undergoing SLEP.
With the contract extension, up to 117 vessels can be delivered through to 2029 from Birdon’s Bellingham, WA and Portland, CT facilities.
The 47’ MLB is the Coast Guard’s primary search and rescue vessel. It is an all-weather fast response vessel, used to patrol the country’s coastline.
The vessels are designed to operate in surf up to 20ft, heavy weather with seas of 30ft combined with 50 knot winds, and are rollover capable – if capsized, the vessels will self-right and can continue operations.
Birdon has bases in the US and Australia.
The company recently acquired Metal Shark Boats Shipyard which was said to be a vital component of Birdon’s $1.187 billion contract to design and build 27 new vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard.
