State seeks shipyard to build 96-foot wildlife trooper vessel replacing the Enforcer

The Alaska Department of Public Safety on Monday asked shipyards for proposals to build a 96-foot patrol vessel for the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, replacing the PV Enforcer, the Juneau-based vessel the state got rid of in 2023. Bids are due by 4:30 pm Nov. 30, according to the request for proposals.

A state capital budget request for the replacement said that without a new vessel, fisheries enforcement would be limited for 7,400 Southeast commercial fishing permit holders in a fishery worth $467 million a year. The department asked for $9.5 million in that request.

The Enforcer, an 84-foot steel vessel, worked out of Juneau from 2006. Its main jobs were multi-day commercial fishing and guided hunting enforcement, sport fishing and hunting enforcement, search and rescue, and disaster response.

The solicitation says the vessel had "major damage incidents during construction" and design flaws that required changes after delivery before it could pass sea trials, and that "dramatically inferior materials" were used to build it. The budget request said the Enforcer was dropped twice, once at its first launch and again while being loaded for shipping. It said the vessel left service in December 2022 because of design and construction flaws and mold.

The 2002 contract for the Enforcer went to a low bidder in south Texas, the budget request said. The state took legal action, but the bond company went bankrupt, the shipyard defaulted on the judgment and later went out of business.

This time, bidders must show they have built at least three vessels of at least 75 feet with steel hulls and aluminum deckhouses. Proposals without that record will be rejected.

The technical specifications call for a steel hull, an aluminum superstructure and a 50-year design life. The vessel is designed to patrol Southeast Alaska and cross the Gulf of Alaska to Kodiak, Yakutat and Cordova.

The state has set aside $8.5 million for the contract. Any more money depends on the Legislature.

The state expects to announce its choice Dec. 11, sign a contract around Dec. 22 and have the vessel finished by the end of 2028.