Bollinger delivers FRC Isaac Mayo

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The following is the text of a news release from Bollinger Shipyards:

(LOCKPORT, La.) — Bollinger Shipyards LLC has delivered the Isaac Mayo, the 12th fast response cutter (FRC), to the United States Coast Guard.

The announcement was made by Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon: “We are very pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC built by Bollinger, the Isaac Mayo, to the 7th Coast Guard District in Key West, Fla. We are looking forward to honoring and celebrating the heroic acts of Isaac Mayo at the vessel’s commissioning.”

The 154-foot patrol craft is the 12th vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. To build the FRC, Bollinger used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state-of-the-art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessel's 26-foot cutter boat. The FRC has been described as an operational “game changer” by senior Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard took delivery on Jan. 13 in Key West, Fla., and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Key West during March 2015.

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard hero Isaac Mayo. In the spring of 1879 a raging snowstorm blanketed the shores of the northeastern United States. The perilous seas and weather caused a three-masted schooner, the Sarah J. Fort, to wreck on the shores of Cape Cod, Mass. Mayo, a junior surfman at Life-Saving Station 7, displayed exemplary character during the disarray as he and his crew faced the storm to rescue the schooner’s sailors. Because of Mayo’s exemplary surfman and leadership skills throughout the challenging rescue, Mayo was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on Nov. 10, 1879.

Bollinger Shipyards LLC (www.bollingershipyards.com) is a leading designer and builder of fast military patrol boats, oceangoing double-hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tug boats, rigs, liftboats, inland waterways push boats, barges, and other steel and aluminum products from its new construction shipyards. Bollinger has 10 shipyards and all are strategically located between New Orleans and Houston with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway. Bollinger is the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region with a total of 30 dry docks in Louisiana and Texas.

By Professional Mariner Staff