MetalCraft Marine awarded multimillion-dollar contract with US Coast Guard

After receiving “significant” accolades and acknowledgements in the past six months, one local business has landed a very significant contract with one of the most well-known maritime security organizations in the world.

MetalCraft Marine, a Kingston-based boat manufacturer, has been awarded a substantial contract with the United States (US) Coast Guard, the company announced on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. With a whopping $31 million price tag, the contract is part of the Long-Range Interceptor III program, and the second contract MetalCraft has received through that program.

The contract will see MetalCraft Marine design and build an 11-meter high-speed Interceptor patrol boat for the US Coast Guard, the company said in a press release. According to MetalCraft, all of the equipment for the Long-Range Interceptor “must be dependable and durable to meet extreme environments, as the boats routinely operate in sea state 5 conditions at planning speeds.”

Sea state 5 conditions are those with many whitecaps and rough, moderate waves reaching 13 to 17 feet (approximately four to five metres) in height, according to MetalCraft. The boat will allow for a closed or open cabin operation, allowing for open operation in good weather conditions, or fully closed operation in bad weather, the company said, noting that “each port and starboard gunner has a 180-degree arc of fire.”

“Our previous Interceptor for the Coast Guard… proved to be a very successful platform,” said MetalCraft Marine Contract Manager Bob Clark, referring to the 11-metre Long-Range Interceptor II, or LRI II.

“The LRI II was the first design to successfully navigate the recovery bay at the transom of the Coast Guard’s flagship 418 National Security Cutter at up to 12 knots. The LRI can operate over the horizon of the mothership and can travel 236 nautical miles on any given mission on plane, giving it a very wide swath to patrol after the mothership’s electronics have detected something suspicious.”

MetalCraft shared the following details on features of the LRI III:

• Twin Cummings 6.7 litre diesel engines, powering two Kongsberg A29 waterjets to a 40-knot speed
• Raymarine and FLIR advanced navigation
• Shockwave and Shox suspension seating
• David Clark Co. wired crew communications system, which allows crews to maintain communication with the LRI or the military sealift command mothership for instructions via wireless very high frequency (VHF) connectivity

The LRI III will also feature a portable ballistic panel package by Safariland, which is designed to be mounted to the boat’s forward/side sections in eight minutes for specific high-threat missions, MetalCraft detailed. The ballistic panels can protect a five-person crew from a 200-degree field of fire.

“The open cabin arrangement allows for crew to provide return fire over a 180-degree arc of fire on both the port and starboard sides with good crew protection,” the company stated in the release.

According to MetalCraft Marine, the Long-Ranger Interceptor is produced in sizes from seven to 20 metres, and has had great success with other military and police forces across North America. The boats are used for several types of operations, including drug interception, search and rescue operations, and crew transfers.

MetalCraft – which earned the distinction of producing the Significant Boat of the Year in 2022 from Workboat Magazine and saw President Bill Connor inducted into the National Marine Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame in February this year – also shared that it is currently working on another contract for the US Coast Guard, building shipboard seven-metre Interceptors in addition to the Long-Ranger Interceptors.

For more information on the Kingston-based company, visit the MetalCraft Marine website.