Sunshine Sentinel

Operations for the U.S. Coast Guard seem to be in shipshape as the construction of offshore patrol cutter crafts continues, with the first vessel scheduled to arrive in 2022.

The modern cutters will replace 270-foot and 210-foot medium endurance cutters that are approximately 30 and 50 years old, respectively. The soon-to-be-bygone ships also come with a hefty price tag to maintain and operate, according to a release from U.S. Coast Guard.

"The OPC will provide a capability bridge between the national security cutter, which patrols the open ocean in the most demanding maritime environments, and the fast response cutter, which serves closer to shore," the release said.

Showcasing state-of-the-art technology, the new vessels will provide the majority of the Coast Guards' offshore presence, according to the release.

"The OPCs will conduct missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, search and rescue, and other homeland security and defense operations," the release said. "Each OPC will be capable of deploying independently or as part of task groups and serving as a mobile command and control platform for surge operations such as hurricane response, mass migration incidents and other events."

Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. in Panama City was awarded the contract from the government as the place to assemble these 25 ships, according to their company website.

“Today I visited @EasternShip to see the progress being made on the @USCG OPC project," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said in a July 7 Tweet. "Over 1200 high-quality jobs in NW #Florida already created by this project & an important new class of vessels for our country."

Eastern Shipbuilding states on their website that the OPC specifications are 360-foot length, 54-foot beams, 17-foot drafts, a sustained speed of 22 plus knots, a range of 8,500 plus nautical miles and an endurance of 60 days.