Coast Guard's Seward shipyard job on the Sitka cutter Kukui reaches $3.3 million

The Coast Guard has now committed about $3.3 million to JAG Alaska for work on the cutter Kukui at the company's Seward shipyard, after adding $7,161 on Oct. 15, according to a federal award record.

The Kukui is a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender based in Sitka, according to the Coast Guard. The work in Seward was scheduled from March 31 through Oct. 15. The record classifies it as ship repair but doesn't describe the work.

The job started at about $2.2 million in March. The Coast Guard added to it 18 times after that, mostly for work within the original scope. The largest additions were about $351,000 in June and $304,000 in April. The total is money committed, not necessarily paid.

The work comes as Seward takes on a bigger role in the Coast Guard's Alaska buildup. In August, JAG received $1.4 million in federal grant money to expand its rail system and add carts and cradles to move vessels through the yard, Alaska News reported Aug. 11.

Seward lost its only homeported cutter, the Mustang, when it was decommissioned in 2025. The fast response cutter Frederick Mann is set to move there once its shore facilities are ready, and the Coast Guard plans to base one of its new Arctic Security Cutters, medium icebreakers, in Seward.