Dec. 9, 2025 —
Dr. Meghan Pickering Seymour, sponsor of future Coast Guard Cutter Pickering, and Austal USA advanced welder Ravi Khamsourin apply Seymour’s initials to a ceremonial plate during the offshore patrol cutter keel authentication ceremony Dec. 8, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The Coast Guard and shipbuilder Austal USA authenticated the keel for offshore patrol cutter (OPC) Pickering in Mobile, Alabama, Dec. 8.
The keel authentication, a time-honored tradition in shipbuilding, was attended by Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard; Rep. Mike Ezell (Mississippi), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; Michelle Kruger, president of Austal USA; and over 100 guests. Ravi Khamsourin, an advanced welder with Austal USA, applied the initials of the sponsor, Dr. Meghan Pickering Seymour, to a ceremonial plate that will be installed on the cutter. This action symbolically indicates that the keel of Pickering is “truly and fairly laid.”
Pickering is named after a revenue cutter built in 1798 that bore the same name. That vessel was named in honor of the second secretary of war, Timothy Pickering. Pickering fought in the American Revolution as a colonel and served as adjutant-general of Washington’s army in 1777. Pickering also served as secretary of state and as a U.S. senator and member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He was a strong advocate for construction of the first frigates built to enforce tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling. Seymour is Pickering’s great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter. The OPC is the third Coast Guard vessel to carry the Pickering name. In addition to revenue cutter Pickering, in the 1920s the Coast Guard operated a concrete-hull floating base bearing the name Pickering.
The OPC acquisition addresses the Coast Guard’s long-term need for sustained operational presence capable of deployed independently or providing smaller Coast Guard cutters with at-sea command and control. The cutters are essential to controlling, securing and defending our maritime borders, as well as disaster response. Acquisition of 25 OPCs will complement the service’s national security cutters, fast response cutters and polar security cutters as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s layered security strategy.
Delivery of Pickering is scheduled for 2027.
For more information: Offshore Patrol Cutter Program page