The brand-new, high-tech cutter Bertholf -- a ship the size of a Navy frigate -- was supposed to represent a new era for the troubled U.S. Coast Guard. After years of ballooning budgets, botched ship programs, shady inspector behavior and public relations shenanigans, the Coast Guard needed good news, bad.
But the $500-million* Bertholf* (pictured) was a disaster from the beginning. Design flaws cost millions of dollars to fix. The commissioning date got pushed back several times, from late 2007 to this spring, to make time for last-minute tweaks. Despite the extra time, the ship apparently still wasn't ready when it came time for the Navy to inspect the vessel's sophisticated electronics gear a couple months back. According to inside sources, the Coastie crew cheated on the exam by removing flawed electronics prior to the Navy team's arrival.
In May DANGER ROOM asked readers to write in if they could confirm the allegations of cheating. The Coast Guard denies the accusations. Now, it appears we might have some corroboration -- and from an unexpected source: Congress.
In late May the House Transportation Committee's investigative arm published its list of accomplishments for the past year (pdf!). Among them:
This would have been much bigger news two months ago, but some DANGER ROOM pals just now dug up the report and passed it along. Question is: what do the House investigators know that we don't, and how solid is their info? If it's solid, then it looks like the Coast Guard has pulled (another) fast one on the American public, to the tune of half a billion dollars.
I remember a couple years ago when Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen stood before a room full of reporters, announced the cancellation of a botched, $100-million patrol boat deal, and said that in the future his service would be a better steward of the taxpayer's money.
Any day now, Allen.
(Photo: Coast Guard)
