Ingalls shut out of $12B program

Bath Iron Works, Bollinger Shipyards and Eastern Shipbuilding have been awarded first phase contracts in a $12 billion Coast Guard ship program. Huntington Ingalls Industries, with major shipyards in Newport News, Va., and Pascagoula, Miss., and the government's No. 1 shipbuilder, was shut out. Bath, of Maine, is part of General Dynamics, the No. 2 shipbuilder for the U.S. government, according to Bloomberg Industries. Each of the winning companies will receive design contracts valued at between $21 million and $22 million for the Offshore Pagtrol Cutters. Bollinger is in Lockport, La., and Eastern in Panama City, Fla. The ships will have increased range and endurance, larger flight decks and improved surveillance capabilities, according to the Coast Guard. (Sources: Bloomberg, 02/12/14, MarineLog 02/11/14)