The U.S. Coast Guard has formally launched the procurement process for its next generation of light icebreakers, issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for up to seven Homeland Security Cutter-Light (HSC-L) vessels as it moves to replace an aging fleet that has served for more than six decades.
The solicitation, released June 30, covers the design, production, testing and delivery of the vessels through an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. Industry proposals are due by July 14.
The new cutters will replace the Coast Guard’s fleet of 65-foot light icebreaking tugs, commissioned between 1961 and 1967, which are now well beyond their intended service lives. The HSC-L program also combines light icebreaking and aids-to-navigation capabilities into a single platform designed to keep smaller ports and harbors accessible throughout the year.
According to the Coast Guard, the vessels will be capable of operating in a variety of ice conditions while supporting buoy tending and other navigation missions that help maintain safe waterways for commercial and recreational traffic.
The procurement will use a two-phase evaluation process. After reviewing initial proposals, the Coast Guard plans to narrow the field before requesting detailed Phase 2 submissions from selected offerors.
The solicitation follows a request for information issued in March that outlined the Coast Guard’s plans to acquire seven light icebreakers for ports and waterways across New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Great Lakes. Under those preliminary requirements, the cutters are expected to measure about 69 feet in length, operate for at least 30 years, and break up to 12 inches of level ice continuously at 3 knots while remaining underway for at least three days without resupply.
Congress has already provided $816 million for the procurement of light and medium icebreaking cutters, reflecting a broader effort to recapitalize the Coast Guard’s domestic icebreaking fleet.
The HSC-L program is separate from the Coast Guard’s rapidly expanding Arctic icebreaker fleet. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security finalized contracts worth $3.3 billion for six new Arctic Security Cutters, completing the first phase of an 11-vessel program intended to bolster U.S. operations in the Arctic. Those larger, Polar Class icebreakers will support national security missions in high-latitude waters, while the HSC-L fleet will focus on keeping critical domestic waterways open for commerce during winter months.
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