BATH, Maine (AP) — Bath Iron Works isn't going to protest the Coast Guard's decision to award a crucial contract to build Coast Guard cutters to another shipyard.
Spokesman Matt Wickenheiser says the decision was made after a meeting with Coast Guard officials to discuss the selection of Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City, Florida, to build the cutters.
The Coast Guard contract was worth $110 million but could grow to $2.38 billion if the Coast Guard exercises options to build nine cutters. Over the long term, the Coast Guard has estimated the contract could be worth $10 billion or more with construction of 25 ships over the next two decades.
The contract was so important to BIW that shipbuilders made concessions in a new contract approved last December to make the shipyard more competitive.