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August 15, 2024

Birdon gets 5-year, $211M contract extension to refurbish Coast Guard rescue boats at Portland facility

Contributed Birdon's 47-foot Motor Lifeboat
By Andrew Larson

Defense contractor Birdon America Inc. will continue using a facility along the Connecticut River in Portland to upgrade rescue boats for the U.S. Coast Guard for another five years, based on a contract extension announced Wednesday.

The Coast Guard extended its original five-year contract with Birdon, awarded in 2019, for another five years. That means the company will continue refurbishing the Coast Guard’s fleet of 47-foot rescue boats, known as Motor Lifeboats, through 2029.

The Coast Guard agreed to the extension, which was included as an option with the original contract, on July 25. The total contract is worth up to $211 million.

With the extension, Birdon will be able to upgrade an additional 72 rescue boats. By 2029, it will have upgraded as many as 117 vessels.

“The Portland, CT facility was built out in anticipation of the contract extension, so there is not currently a need to expand it to support this particular contract,” said Patrick Kinser, Birdon’s Motor Lifeboat program manager.

The work is part of the Coast Guard’s Service Life Extension Program. Birdon’s upgrades will extend the useful life of the Coast Guard’s fleet through 2047.

The 47-foot Motor Lifeboats are the Coast Guard's primary search-and-rescue platform.

The vessels are designed to travel quickly during treacherous weather conditions, as they are used to patrol vast areas of coastline. They can operate in surf up to 20 feet and in 50-knot winds.

The vessels are even capable of rolling themselves upright if they become capsized.

HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER
Birdon paid $250,000 for this decommissioned motor lifeboat in order to prepare for its ultimately successful bid to overhaul most of the U.S. Coast Guard’s fleet.

Birdon has production facilities on both coasts, Portland and Bellingham, Washington, to perform the upgrades.

So far, 19 Motor Lifeboat upgrades have been completed and 19 are in progress, according to the company.

Birdon America, the U.S. arm of Australia-based Birdon Group, recently acquired 31 acres along the Connecticut River, including several marinas, to create the Portland operation.

A modular mezzanine structure on the production floor of the Portland facility will support future contract endeavors, Kinser said.

Birdon employs 85 workers at the Portland site and a total of 125 people are working on the Service Life Extension Program across the two locations.

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