The Coast Guard's motto is "Semper Paratus," which is Latin for "always ready." Whether asked to perform search and rescue missions in challenging weather conditions off of Maine's coast or responding to contain an oil spill in the middle of the night, the Coast Guard lives up to that motto. And at no time was this more apparent than during the response to Hurricane Katrina when there were failures by many other federal, state, and local agencies, yet the Coast Guard performed exceptionally well - rescuing more than 30,000 people stranded by floodwaters.
The Coast Guard, however, has an aging fleet of cutters and patrol boats. Many of them are more than 40 years old and are now well past their anticipated retirement-from-service dates. These aging ships require more frequent repairs, taking them out of service more often and potentially limiting the Coast Guard's ability to complete all of its missions. The Coast Guard has responded by undertaking a major effort to build new vessels. Maine's master shipbuilders are in a unique position to assist the Coast Guard in rebuilding its fleet.
I recently hosted the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, on his trip to Maine, which included visits to Coast Guard stations in South Portland, Boothbay and Rockland, as well as tours of two shipbuilding facilities - Bath Iron Works and Hodgdon Yachts, both of which were founded in the nineteenth century.
In the next couple years, the Coast Guard intends to begin building at least 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters that will replace many of the larger cutters in its fleet. These new cutters are expected to be approximately 360 feet long, powered by four diesel engines, and capable of remaining at sea for weeks to support law enforcement, homeland defense, and search and rescue missions. The Coast Guard's Offshore Patrol Cutter contract would be an ideal fit for Bath Iron Works (BIW). BIW's shipyard has the capacity to assemble ships the size of the Offshore Patrol Cutters and the workforce needed to do the job as well as a track record of building a superior quality product. Commandant Allen and I toured the shipyard at BIW and saw the ongoing construction of the Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers that are being built there for the U.S. Navy and the quality of workmanship demonstrated by Maine's shipbuilders.
We also visited the Defense Composites Division at the Hodgdon Yachts production facility in East Boothbay. In 2008, Hodgdon successfully completed a technology demonstrator patrol boat using advanced composite materials for the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research. We toured Hodgdon's facility and saw technicians demonstrate their unique vacuum composite infusion process. Hodgdon would be in an excellent position to help the Coast Guard develop patrol boats made of advanced composite materials that would be lighter, stronger, and require less maintenance.
Maine has a tremendous shipbuilding heritage and I was proud to have escorted the Commandant to both BIW and Hodgdon Defense Composites for him to see first-hand the important contributions that each company is making to that strong legacy. I am confident that both companies are uniquely qualified to support the Coast Guard's initiative to modernize its fleet of cutters and patrol boats and to help ensure that the posture of the Coast Guard remains always ready well into the twenty-first century.