New Coast Guard ship set to call Charleston home

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - One the Coast Guard’s newest ships will call Charleston its home port once it is completed.

A National Security cutter, the 11th in the Coast Guard’s fleet, doesn’t have a name yet but is scheduled to arrive in 2024.

The cutter will be the fifth assigned to Charleston. Construction on the vessel is set to begin in the Spring of 2020.

National Security cutters are extremely advanced technologically. The ships are 418 feet long with a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and crew of 120.

In December of 2018, the Coast Guard awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries the $462.13 million contract for construction. Charleston is already home to two cutters-- the James and the Hamilton.