CG Alder breaking ice.

[JohnH]

The Alder returned from Thunder Bay this Thursday morning and broke some harbor ice on its way to its dock.

[JohnH]

The Alder broke some Duluth-Superior Harbor ice this Monday before heading out to Thunder Bay.

[Andrew]

I know they have 4 up there. I expect that with inland waters like the Great Lakes, buoy tenders have a bigger role to play. I could see that if the Coast Guard saw the need for an Arctic presence they would add icebreakers or search and rescue ships. If for some reason they did need more tenders up there, I expect they would first pull from Honolulu or Newport (2 Junipers stationed at each base). These things can cover ground (Seqouia runs Guam and the South Pacific by itself) so I think it has to do more with buoy numbers than number of hull assets.

[Guest]

Wasn't there some talk a short while back that the USCG was considering doing away with homeporting any of its Juniper class cutters on the lakes and positioning them elsewhere to alleviate some of the pressures resulting from the growing emphasis of increasing its arctic presence? I don't know what, if anything, it would use to replace these two ships on the lakes.

[JohnH]

The Alder was out again Thursday breaking harbor ice.

[Guest]

So will she be gone for good or just for the midlife refit?

She will presumably be operating off the Great Lakes for the rest of her career.

[Andrew]

For good. The Coast Guard is swapping hulls after the midlife refit. We are ending up with Spar in Duluth.

The last one to go into the shop is the Hollyhock, which will be replaced by the Sequoia. Hollyhock will end up in Guam. Pretty sure the Alder will end up in Alaska, replacing the cutter Hickory.

[Guest]

So will she be gone for good or just for the midlife refit?

[Andrew]

Will ultimately be her last breakout of the Duluth/Superior harbor before her midlife refit and relocation.

Her replacement (Spar) is at the yard in Baltimore now and with Oak now back in Newport, RI and Walnut giving an AIS transmission at the Coast Guard yard today, only Cypress and Spar are there now, so Alder should be starting her trek as soon as she places her buoys, unless something has changed per Coast Guard.

[JohnH]

Here is the track of the CG Alder breaking out the Duluth-Superior harbor this Wednesday.