GAO cites ship acquisition delays and maintenance issues for US Coast Guard mission shortfalls

Difficulty in maintaining systems on older cutters, such as the bridge of the Island-class Mustang shown here, has created operational capacity issues for the USCG. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

Acquisition hurdles and maintenance backlogs for US Coast Guard (USCG) cutters have forced the service to curtail patrols, according to a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

“Some of these newer replacement cutters – specifically, the Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs) and Polar Security Cutters (PSCs) – have experienced significant delays in the projected delivery dates and increased acquisition program costs,” the GAO said in its report Coast Guard: Actions Needed to Address Cutter Maintenance and Workforce Challenges, released on 25 June.

For more information on efforts to improve USCG acquisition, please see US Department of Homeland Security seeks to establish USCG secretary, revamp service acquisition and operations .

“We found that these delays in delivery of the replacement cutters have required the coast guard to extend the service life of some legacy cutters to meet mission demands, resulting in additional increases in maintenance costs for the cutter fleet,” the GAO said.

For example, the GAO said, “Officials from all nine coast guard districts reported at least one major challenge related to cutter maintenance. Of those, officials from seven coast guard districts told us that unplanned maintenance (such as repairs or dry docks) due to equipment failures have increased and negatively affected their ability to meet mission needs. Officials from three districts told us that equipment failures and the resulting unplanned maintenance has led to cutters missing patrol obligations.”