Marketplace Today Blog

By Rick Barrett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The marine division of Manitowoc Co. has appealed an award of a government contract, valued at up to $1.5 billion, for construction of U.S. Coast Guard cutters by a Louisiana shipyard.

Marinette Marine Corp. said Wednesday it has filed the protest with the federal Government Accountability Office.

Company officials declined to say why they have taken the action, but last week they acknowledged that the contract award to Bollinger Shipyards Inc., of Lockport, La., was surprising and disappointing.

Bollinger has been granted an $88 million initial contract for the design and construction of the first of the cutters, which are supposed to be fast-response vessels 153 feet long and capable of speeds exceeding 28 knots.

The shipyard could get up to about seven years worth of work from building 34 cutters, providing jobs for about 500 people.

Some of the nation’s largest shipbuilders, including Marinette Marine, competed for the contract. In September, Marinette laid off about 90 workers while it waited for the Coast Guard’s decision. Another round of layoffs will come in early November and could include about 60 workers, the company said.

For more on this story, click here.