Cristina I. Santana

Cristina I. Santana serves as a key procurement professional within the U.S. Coast Guard’s SFLC Procurement Branch 1 (70Z080), responsible for managing complex acquisitions supporting the sustainment, modernization, and lifecycle maintenance of the Coast Guard’s fleet of cutters and maritime assets. Her work directly enables operational readiness across coastal, offshore, and open-ocean missions by overseeing contracts for shipbuilding, dry dock overhauls, propulsion system upgrades, and mission-critical nautical systems. She specializes in high-stakes, technical procurements requiring deep engineering oversight and strict compliance with naval vessel standards, ensuring that acquisitions align with the Coast Guard’s long-term modernization strategy. Santana maintains consistent, long-term relationships with a select group of specialized maritime contractors, including Fairbanks Morse, LLC, Bay Ship & Yacht Co, Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, L.L.C., Automatic Coating Limited USA, and Technico Corporation. These partnerships reflect a preference for vendors with proven expertise in naval architecture, marine propulsion, corrosion protection, and vessel repair infrastructure. Her contracting patterns indicate a reliance on established industry leaders with demonstrated capability in complex, multi-year shipyard projects, suggesting a focus on reliability, technical fidelity, and past performance over open competition. Santana’s procurement activity shows no use of socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of awards issued under full and open competition. This reflects a mission-driven prioritization of technical capability and vessel readiness over socioeconomic targeting, aligning with the specialized nature of Coast Guard maritime acquisitions where only a limited pool of qualified vendors can meet stringent naval standards. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 334511—Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing—indicating deep expertise in procuring advanced maritime electronics, radar systems, sonar arrays, autopilot integrations, and other mission-critical nautical instrumentation. Her portfolio underscores a technical domain centered on integrating precision navigation and control systems into aging and new-build vessels to maintain Coast Guard operational superiority.