Philly Shipyard, Fincantieri team for USCG polar icebreaker

The USCGC Mackinaw was built by FMG's Marinette Marine in 2006

APRIL 6, 2017—Philly Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA, is teaming with Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG) to compete for the detail design and construction of the next generation heavy polar icebreaker for the United States Coast Guard (USCG).

The USCG recently selected five shipyards to each conduct an industry study to help refine the vessel’s key features and performance requirements (see earlier story).

Over the next year, FMG and Philly Shipyard, along with the naval architecture and marine engineering firm, Vard, will develop a baseline icebreaker design, cost estimate and project schedule and then refine them based on the results of the technical studies and corresponding feedback from the USCG.

The various industry studies will help the USCG finalize a ship specification and project plan that will support its mission objectives and responsibilities in the polar regions and that will enable them to acquire one or more heavy polar icebreakers that are affordable to build, operate, and maintain. The USCG plans to award a single contract for design and construction of the heavy polar icebreaker in fiscal year 2019, subject to appropriations.

“We could not have asked for better partners in this project than FMG and Vard, which both have a long history of successful work for the U.S. and other governments around the world,” said Philly Shipyard CEO Steinar Nerbovik, “and this is an ideal opportunity to apply our knowledge and expertise in commercial ship construction to a U.S. government program.”

The shipbuilder has delivered 26 vessels in its nearly 20-year history. Currently, the shipyard has two additional 50,000 dwt tankers for American Petroleum Tankers (APT), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, and two 3,600 TEU containerships for Matson Navigation Company, Inc. under construction.

Fincantieri Marine Group’s Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, WI, built the U.S. Coast Guard’s 240 ft icebreaker USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30), which operates on the Great Lakes. Homeported in Cheboygan, MI, the 16,000-ton USCGC Mackinaw was commissioned in 2006.