The Coast Guard began working in 2002 on its “Deepwater” program to buy new ships, planes and helicopters, turning first to a consortium of defense contractors that included Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The public-private venture lasted six years and cost nearly $2 billion before the Coast Guard pulled the plug on working with the companies because of a series of missteps that included having to abandon eight new patrol cutters with cracked hulls.

 

The agency has worked on its own since 2008 to complete the modernization program, only to run into more costly delays. It is now estimating it will take $28 billion to complete the “Deepwater” plan, which represents a 16% increase from 2007 projections.

 

The Center for Public Integrity has reported that the Coast Guard may have contributed to the sinking of the offshore oil platform in April by failing to follow its own firefighting policies after the rig exploded, such as not ensuring that a firefighting expert supervised the efforts of private boats that answered the Deepwater Horizon’s initial distress call.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Coast Guard Modernization Program Nearly $4 Billion Over Budget (Center for Public Integrity)

Coast Guard: Deepwater Requirements, Quantities, and Cost Require Revalidation to Reflect Knowledge Gained (Government Accountability Office) (pdf)