Offshore Patrol Cutter: Coast Guard Should Gain Key Knowledge Before Buying More Ships
Fast Facts
The U.S. Coast Guard plans to spend over $17 billion to acquire 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters—ships that conduct search and rescue operations, among other missions.
Two shipbuilders have started building the ships before completing design. Building ships with incomplete designs is risky. The first shipbuilder repeatedly faced costly rework and delayed deliveries, leading the Coast Guard to cancel half the ships on the contract.
To date, neither shipbuilder has delivered any ships. The second shipbuilder faces similar risks if it continues building more ships before completing design.
Our recommendations address this issue and more.
An Offshore Patrol Cutter Under Construction
U.S. Coast Guard ship beside a dock with construction scaffolding and equipment on it.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Coast Guard urgently needs Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) to replace aging cutters that conduct law enforcement and search and rescue operations. The Coast Guard plans to acquire 25 OPCs in stages: stage 1 initially included OPCs 1-4, stage 2 includes OPCs 5-15, and stage 3 will include OPCs 16-25. Construction for stages 1 and 2 is underway by two different shipbuilders. But each shipbuilder’s design remains incomplete, and both have yet to deliver any ships.
The stage 1 shipbuilder made limited progress since GAO last reported on OPC. In 2023, GAO found that construction of OPCs 1-4 began without a stable design, contrary to shipbuilding leading practices. This led to rework, which delayed ship deliveries. The Coast Guard took steps in 2024 to prioritize delivery of OPC 1, such as adding payments at certain milestones, but these steps were largely unsuccessful. As of July 2025, the Coast Guard terminated construction of OPCs 3 and 4 as part of an ongoing review of the current stage 1 contract, and delivery of OPC 1 was expected more than 5 years late.
Offshore Patrol Cutters 1 (left) and 2 (right) Construction Status in December 2024
The stage 2 shipbuilder and Coast Guard incorporated some leading practices while developing the stage 2 design, such as conducting collaborative design reviews that supported timely decisions. But construction of OPC 5 began in August 2024 without a stable design. Starting construction of more stage 2 OPCs before stabilizing the design, as the Coast Guard plans to do, increases the risk that stage 2 will also encounter costly rework and schedule delays.
The OPC program is at risk of not meeting its cost goals, in part, because the program used outdated cost information to establish them. The program is updating this information to account for recent stage 1 cost increases. GAO also found that the program reported an aggregated cost goal for all 25 OPCs instead of by stage. Reporting cost goals by stage would enable decision-makers to hold the program and OPC shipbuilders accountable for their performance.
The program plans to acquire stage 3 ships after testing whether the existing designs meet OPC’s performace goals, which is consistent with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy. However, the program is unlikely to have the test results before starting stage 3 procurement activities, such as developing the request for proposals. Incorporating the knowledge gained from testing—as well as other shipbuilding leading practices—into the procurement process for stage 3 could help the Coast Guard make better investment decisions. It could also improve the timeliness of future OPC deliveries.
Why GAO Did This Study
The Coast Guard—a component of DHS—plans to spend over $17 billion to acquire a fleet of 25 OPCs. Since 2020, GAO has found that the Coast Guard is using a high-risk approach to acquire OPCs that involves significant overlap in design and construction.
GAO was asked to review the status of the OPC acquisition program. This report examines the extent to which (1) progress has been made on OPC design and construction; and (2) the OPC program is meeting its cost and performance goals.
GAO analyzed OPC documents and data; compared the status of OPC stage 1 design and construction to what GAO reported in June 2023 (GAO-23-105805); and compared stage 2 design and construction to leading practices for commercial shipbuilding. GAO also conducted site visits to both OPC shipbuilders to observe stage 1 and stage 2 construction progress; and interviewed Coast Guard officials and shipbuilder representatives.
Recommendations
GAO is making four recommendations to the Coast Guard and DHS, including that the program stabilizes design before starting construction of additional stage 2 OPCs; reports cost goals for each OPC stage; and documents a plan for acquiring stage 3 ships that identifies how it will use test results to inform procurement activities and further incorporate shipbuilding leading practices. DHS concurred with two of the four recommendations, and did not concur with the other two. GAO maintains that all four recommendations are warranted.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| United States Coast Guard | The Commandant of the Coast Guard should ensure that the OPC program demonstrates that the stage 2 design is stable prior to authorizing construction of additional stage 2 OPCs by (1) completing basic and functional design, including routing of major distributive systems that affect multiple zones of the ship, in a 3D model with reliable vendor-furnished information and (2) successfully testing an integrated prototype of the davit in a realistic environment, consistent with shipbuilding leading practices. (Recommendation 1) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| United States Coast Guard | The Commandant of the Coast Guard, in collaboration with the Navy, should develop a memorandum of agreement to clarify and document agreement on how the evaluation of deficiencies and ongoing surveillance of Austal's EVM system will be coordinated between the Coast Guard and SUPSHIP throughout the duration of the OPC program. (Recommendation 2) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Homeland Security | The DHS Secretary should ensure that the DHS Under Secretary for Management directs the Coast Guard to revise the OPC acquisition program baseline to include cost goals for each stage. (Recommendation 3) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Department of Homeland Security | The DHS Secretary should ensure that the DHS Under Secretary for Management directs the Coast Guard to document a plan for acquiring stage 3 OPCs that identifies (1) how results from operational testing of OPC stages 1 and 2 will be incorporated into stage 3 procurement activities, such as developing the request for proposals, and contingency plans if this testing is delayed; and (2) how leading practices for ship design will be incorporated into stage 3. (Recommendation 4) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|