Bath Iron Works expects to bid on construction contracts for as many as 58 fast-response cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard, vessels which would be used for everything from search-and-rescue missions to the interception of drug dealers and illegal immigrants.

The Coast Guard is expected to request proposals in two weeks. The new cutters are part of a controversial $24 billion plan to replace the Coast Guard's aging fleet of ships and aircraft over the next two decades.

The first ships built for the program -- existing cutters that were expanded -- proved unseaworthy, prompting the commandant, Adm. Thad Allen, to call for new bids.

That decision opened the door to a possible bid from BIW.

If BIW wins the contract, it would be the first time in about two decades that the shipyard has built a ship for an entity other than the U.S. Navy.

The fast-response cutter contract would also provide the shipyard with work to fill a work gap between its building of the last Arleigh Burke destroyer and a new-generation destroyer in the DDG 1000 Zumwalt class.

Ronald O'Rourke, a naval analyst at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, said Thursday that if BIW ends up building the cutters, "it could provide a fair amount of construction work for the yard, on top of whatever work it may have building surface combatants for the Navy."

BIW spokesman Jim DeMartini said that if the shipyard wins the contract, it probably would make use of its existing work force and not need to add jobs. BIW, one of Maine's largest employers, currently has about 5,800 employees.

DeMartini cautioned Thursday that BIW only will bid to build the fast-response cutters if doing so wouldn't affect its core business building Navy destroyers and if it makes good business sense.

Because the Coast Guard wants a proven design, DeMartini said the shipyard use plans provided by another business.

"The design would already exist," he said. "We would build it."

He said the Coast Guard proposal, expected to be issued June 22, will call for designing, building and delivering one ship with potential to build up to 57 more. DeMartini said he did not know the expected value of the contract at this point, and that information was not available from the U.S. Coast Guard Thursday afternoon.

The fast-response cutters would be much smaller than the 510-foot destroyers that BIW builds. The cutters would range from 120 feet to 160 feet, but DeMartini said BIW doesn't believe it would have to retrofit the yard to build them.

The fast-response cutter B class, or FRC-B, is a larger version of the 110-foot island class cutter, according to Chief Petty Officer Sarah Foster-Snell, a public affairs spokeswoman for the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System.

Originally, the Coast Guard had wanted to expand 49 of the 110-foot cutters into 123-foot patrol boats. But deck cracking, hull buckling and shaft alignment problems forced the Coast Guard to pull the first eight converted ships out of service on Nov. 30.

As a result, the Coast Guard proposed accelerating the introduction of a fast-response cutter by about 10 years.

"I see a new fleet of Fast Response Cutters being built and deployed with plans for additional patrol boats to replace the remainder of our 110-foot patrol boat fleet," Adm. Allen said April 17, in announcing the plans.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, the ranking Republican on the Commerce subcommittee for the Coast Guard, said BIW's participation could help the agency recover from the loss of the eight patrol boats.

"Bath is the best shipbuilder in the world. It only makes sense to have them participate," she said.

The Coast Guard suspended design work a year ago on the Fast Response Cutter because of technical concerns.

Now two versions are proposed for the 58 ships. The first 12 would be based on a ship that has already been designed.

The contract could be awarded in spring 2008.

"We anticipate the first boat in the water in the spring of 2010 and the last of those 12 in the water in the spring of 2012," said Mary Elder, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

The second version of the ship would feature a composite hull that still must be designed. Coast Guard officials are evaluating plans for that type.

"We're waiting to see when a composite is ready to go to production," Elder said. "We just don't feel like we can go to production immediately."

DeMartini said the Coast Guard will award the bid for the cutters on a "best-value basis," which he said means looking at other factors than just the lowest price submitted for the job.

He said he believes BIW is well-positioned to win the contract because of its history of building "high-quality affordable ships for the U.S. Navy."

He also said the shipyard stands out because it has skilled employees who use "good old Maine common sense" to work in productive, cost-efficient ways.