Coast Guard Cited in Report on Flawed Ship
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, January 27, 2007; Page A01
The Coast Guard's newest cutter, the flagship of a $24 billion plan to modernize the nation's coastal fleet, suffers from significant design flaws, and the service has failed to properly supervise the contractors doing the work, government inspectors have found.
The 418-foot National Security Cutter is the largest ship the Coast Guard has ever commissioned, but as designed would be limited in its ability to venture far from U.S. shores in search of drug smugglers and terrorists, according to a report scheduled to be released Monday.
  Rep. Bennie Thompson said a report critical of the Coast Guard's handling of the National Security Cutter was "a stunning indictment." (AP) |
Technical experts said the design of the vessel was likely to result in "fatigue cracks" that would sharply increase maintenance costs and shorten the ship's useful life. The report also said the Coast Guard appeared ill-equipped to supervise the project's contracting team, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, which had been given wide latitude in running the program.
The agency lacks the "appropriate workforce, business processes, and management controls for executing a major acquisition program" like this one, the report by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general says. "The Coast Guard is still trying to come from behind and create the organization needed to manage the program."
The Coast Guard and its contractors hindered the audit of the program, known as Deepwater, after ignoring years of warnings from technical experts about the ships' designs, the report says.
A representative for the Coast Guard did not return a call for comment yesterday. But in a response included in the report, the service challenged the inspector general's conclusions, saying the findings do not represent the "most current, comprehensive, or technically accurate data."
"The Coast Guard opinion is that decisions regarding structures and production have been well-considered and were prudent and correct," the response says.
The inspector general's report is the latest indictment of Deepwater, which aims to modernize the Coast Guard's aging fleet of ships, planes and helicopters over the next 25 years. In December, the Coast Guard sidelined eight Miami-based 123-foot cutters produced under the program after finding that they were not seaworthy.
The report has been circulated in the Department of Homeland Security and in Congress. A source provided it on the condition of anonymity because the document is not yet authorized for release.
New House Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) has discussed exerting more control over Deepwater projects, and a Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee chaired by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) will hold an oversight hearing into Deepwater on Tuesday.
Cummings called the report "one of the most troubling reports I've read in my 11 years in Congress," adding that indications that the Coast Guard impeded auditors demanded a "thorough assessment."
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) called the report "a stunning indictment" of Coast Guard management.
