Ingalls Shipbuilding contracted for Coast Guard cutter

PASCAGOULA, Miss., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Ingalls Shipbuilding is to build the U.S. Coast Guard's ninth Legend-class National Security Cutter, the company announced.

Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, said construction of the vessel will take place under a $486 million fixed-price incentive contract.

"With the experience and knowledge our shipbuilders bring to this program, I am confident NSC 9 will be another great ship and continue the great success on this program," said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. "These ships remain in high demand by our Coast Guard customer, and we look forward to delivering another quality NSC to help them accomplish their vital homeland security missions."

NSCs are the flagships of the Coast Guard's cutter fleet. They are 418 feet long and 54 feet in the beam. The speed of the cutters is more than 28 knots and their range is 12,000 nutical miles.

The Legend class is replacing the Coast Guard's aging Hamilton-class vessels, which entered service in the 1960s.

Ingalls has delivered six NSCs and has two more under construction: Kimball (WMSL 756) and Midgett (WMSL 757), which will be delivered in 2018 and 2019, respectively.