Everett’s Naval commander gives update on new frigates

EVERETT — With plans for 12 new frigates to be based here, Naval Station Everett’s commanding officer provided an overall update about the base Wednesday.

Hosted by Economic Alliance Snohomish County, the State of the Station brought together local business leaders, elected officials and the U.S. Navy at the Port of Everett.

The station’s commanding officer, U.S. Navy Capt. Stacy Wuthier, touched on a variety of topics, including the Navy’s new Constellation-class of frigates. The new guided-missile frigates will be “multi-mission” warships.

Wuthier took command of the naval station about six months ago.

In September, the Navy released a final draft of the environmental assessment for homeporting the new ships. Little in the document has changed from a previous draft released earlier this year. Plans call for 12 of the frigates to be based in Everett, while its current group of ships would be sent elsewhere.

Two options have been proposed regarding construction of new facilities on the base.

• The first option would add “a stand-alone building or an addition to an existing building that would be up to three stories” at about 50,000 square feet, as well as a roughly 41,000-square-foot “addition” to the Fleet Region Readiness Center to “provide additional classroom and training space.”

• The second option would construct an “Administrative Support Facility” with a new 20,000-square-foot addition to an existing building, plus significant interior renovations in existing buildings.

About 2,900 sailors would be based in Everett by the time the 10-year plan for homeporting those ships is finished. That would be slightly less than the 3,100 sailors currently.

Overall, by 2037, the Navy plans for a net increase from 12 ships to 14 ships in Everett, according to the report.

Work began on the first ship in the class in 2022, though has been delayed. A recent report in The National Interest, a magazine focused on military issues, said the first ship will not be finished until at least 2029. The Navy report states the first ship of the class would arrive in Everett no later than fiscal year 2028.

“The resources are a little bit delayed, but that hasn’t changed the overall strategy for the frigate program,” Wuthier said. “They’re still coming, and Everett is still the preferred future home port for the first group of the Constellation-class frigates.”

Earlier this year, Port of Everett commissioners approved a lease with Fincantieri Marine Repair, a division of an Italian company tasked with building the Constellation ships. The design for the new frigates is based off an Italian class of ships.

The base accounts for about $624 million in local economic impact, Wuthier said. Including civilian roles, about 6,000 people currently work at the base.

“When it comes to Naval Station Everett, it’s the communities that support our sailors that make it feel like home, and I know they do so much,” Wuthier said. “It really is our interactions with them out in town, that kind of give them that.”

Port commissioner Tom Stiger said the port has been “a real strong advocate of the Navy’s mission at Naval Station Everett and to the sailors and families of our community.”

Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; X: @jordyhansen.