The US Coast Guard’s Facilities Design and Construction Center has awarded a contract to Whiting-Turner Contracting Company to design and construct new homeport facilities in Sitka, Alaska.
The award, with a total potential value of US$50.475 million, will construct waterfront facilities to support the arrival of one fast response cutter (FRC), USCGC Douglas Denman (pictured), and improve waterfront facilities for one 225-foot (68.6-metre) seagoing buoy tender, USCGC Kukui, that is already homeported in Sitka.
The coast guard said this work represents a significant investment in infrastructure supporting coast guard operations throughout Sector Southeast Alaska and the greater Arctic District.
Construction of homeport facilities is expected to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2028.
The FRCs feature advanced command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment, as well as over-the-horizon cutter boat deployment.
Kukui’s primary mission is the servicing of aids-to-navigation buoys within an area of responsibility extending across the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska. Other missions include maritime law enforcement, ports and waterways security, marine environmental response, and search and rescue.