Coast Guard Expands Birdon Lifeboat Contract

Birdon America Inc. announced that it has received a contract extension to upgrade rescue boats for the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The Coast Guard initially awarded Birdon a 10-year contract to upgrade its fleet of 47-foot motor lifeboats.

The modification, announced Aug. 14, expands the final five years of the contract, as part of the Coast Guard’s Service Life Extension Program.

Birdon will now be able to overhaul an additional 72 lifeboats.

In total, they will upgrade a total of 117 vessels to have a useful life through 2047.

Commitment to Quality

The motor lifeboats are the Coast Guard’s primary search and rescue platform, used to patrol much of the country’s coastline.

“The unilateral contract modification speaks to the Coast Guard’s confidence in Birdon’s abilities as a major contractor,” said Birdon MLB program manager Patrick Kinser. 

“We are fully committed to continuing to deliver high quality boats on schedule to operational units on both coasts.”

“We are fully committed to continuing to deliver high quality boats on schedule.”

Birdon’s Patrick Kinser

Since 2019, Birdon has delivered 19 MLBs, with another 19 undergoing refurbishment at facilities in Portland and Bellingham, WA. 

Birdon purchased the Portland Riverview Marina and Yankee Boatyard and Marina along the Connecticut River in 2022, as part of the project to restore the boats.

“Over the coming years, there’ll be more and more work that we bring to this region,” Birdon Group CEO Jamie Bruce told the CBIA BizCast in 2023. 

“We’re very focused on delivering not only to the customer, but the local community with the types of high-paying manufacturing jobs that the state of Connecticut needs every day to grow its base,” added Birdon America president Robert Scott.