CG orders 20 Shark boat deliveries

The Coast Guard placed a delivery order Feb. 4 for 20 Response Boats-Small II (RB-S IIs), worth about $8.5M, with Metal Shark Boats of Jeanerette, La. The boats are targeted for delivery beginning in May through September. They will be stationed throughout the country including Gulf Coast locations. The 29-foot small boats are replacing the 25-foot RB-S, which is being phased out. The new boats can reach a top speed of 40 knots and are used for a range of missions, including search and rescue, vessel boarding team deployment, law enforcement missions, port security, drug and migrant interdiction, and environmental response operations. This brings the total of RB-S IIs ordered to 370. Metal Shark has delivered 339 RB-S since the Louisiana firm won a 2012 contract worth about $192M to replace 470 response boats. (Source: Coast Guard 02/15/19)