The U.S. Navy accepted the delivery of the ninth of 12 expeditionary fast transport vessels, the USNS City of Bismarck (EPF-9) on Tuesday.
EPFs are shallow draft non-combat transport catamarans designed for personnel and cargo sealift mobility within a theater. They can be used when dealing with basic and degraded offload points. They can interface with roll-on/roll-off discharge facilities and transport an Abrams tank.
The vessels also include a flight deck and airline-style seating for 312 embarked forces and fixed berthing for 104 personnel. EPF-9 will be operated by the Military Sealift Command.
Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., builds the EPFs and is still constructing three more: the future USNS Burlington (EPF-10) had a keel-laying ceremony in September while the Puerto Rico (EPF-11) and unnamed EPF-12 were awarded in September 2016 and are in early production stages.
EPF-9 finished builder’s trials in September (Defense Daily, Sept. 15) and acceptance trials in October (Defense Daily, Nov. 6), both in the Gulf of Mexico.
“EPFs continue to be excellent additions to the U.S. Navy force. With the delivery of EPF-9 to the fleet, the Navy continues to provide a variety of capabilities to U.S. operations around the globe,” Capt. Scot Searles, program manager for strategic and theater sealift within Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships, said in a statement.
In 2016, the U.S. Navy awarded Austal USA a $326 million contract for EPF-11 and -12, adding to the 2008 10 EPF-ship order to bring the total production contract to $1.9 billion. Total work is expected to be finished by 2022.