CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The Coast Guard plans to consolidate its facilities across the South Carolina coast to an old naval shipyard near Charleston and plans to base national security vessels at the new site, Adm. Karl Schultz said.
The moves are linked with dredging of Charleston Harbor, which when competed in 2021 will make it the deepest harbor on the East Coast.
“This gives Charleston the potential to grow into the largest concentration of assets and people in the Coast Guard,” The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that Schultz said Thursday during his State of the Coast Guard address in Charleston.
The Coast Guard is looking to add three national security cutters to the two already stationed in Charleston and also place a group of offshore patrol cutters that may soon be built, Shultz said.
That could double the Coast Guard population in the area to about 2,000 people, Shultz said.
“A community like Charleston understands just how important our defense contributions are to the nation. And for generations, the people of this great port city have also appreciated the importance of maritime commerce to our nation,” Shultz said.
The Coast Guard currently has property in Charleston from the tip of the city’s peninsula through North Charleston. They will all be consolidated at the old Naval Shipyard in North Charleston on the Cooper River, Shultz said.
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