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USCG starts Arctic cutter deployment The USCG cutters Hamilton and Spar take part in the first of a series of Arctic patrols; search and rescue exercise near Barrow Alan Bailey Petroleum News
As part of a series of moves to bolster its Arctic presence, the U.S. Coast Guard has started extending its high endurance cutter deployment from the Bering Sea into the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, and up into the Arctic Ocean. The 378-foot Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton is leading the effort and the 225-foot Coast Guard Cutter Spar has also been deployed to the Arctic.
“This operation supports the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to extend maritime safety and security to the Arctic region in the face of retreating polar sea ice,” USCG said in an Aug. 21 announcement about the cutter deployment.
“There’s more water in the Arctic than ever before and the Coast Guard is accountable for its security,” said Admiral Thad Allen, USCG commandant.
The Hamilton left Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands on Aug. 22 and by Aug. 25 was approaching the Arctic Circle in the Chukchi Sea northwest of the Seward Peninsula. On Aug. 24, at a point south of Cape Prince of Wales, Rear Admiral Gene Brooks, commander of the 17th U.S. Coast Guard District, accompanied by a Canadian Coast Guard commander and other guests, visited the ship by helicopter.
“We need to be as effective in the Arctic as we are everywhere else in our maritime domain,” Brooks had said before the Hamilton set out on its voyage. “Presently Coast Guard capabilities in the nation’s northernmost waters are extremely limited.”
Search and rescue exercise And USCG has announced that on Aug. 29 the Hamilton and the Spar will participate in the first USCG search and rescue exercise near Barrow, at the northwest end of the North Slope. The Spar will simulate a small cruise ship in distress after hitting sea ice. The Hamilton will respond to the emergency. A USCG Kodiak-based Hercules HC-130 will deliver dewatering pumps to the response location, while a helicopter from the Hamilton will “rescue” Spar crewmembers and search for people overboard.
USCG has been operating biweekly surveillance flights up the Chukchi Sea coast since October 2007 using its Kodiak-based Hercules. And in July the Coast Guard deployed some personnel, helicopters and response vessels to Barrow, at the northwest end of the North Slope, for a few weeks, to evaluate what the Coast Guard can usefully do in the North Slope region.
And the concept of a cruise ship in distress near Barrow is not at all far-fetched — earlier this summer a German cruise ship with 400 tourists arrived unannounced in Barrow.
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