Aug. 16, 2019 —
Coast Guard Cutter Fir departed today from the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, following completion of its midlife maintenance availability (MMA). The MMA is one of several projects that comprise the In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) Program to enhance mission capability, improve reliability and reduce maintenance costs of the service’s legacy cutter fleet.
Fir, which started undergoing the MMA work in August 2018, is the sixth of 16 225-foot seagoing buoy tenders to undergo this process through the ISVS Program. The work will keep the tenders in service another 15 years and includes an overhaul of the deck equipment and weight handling gear, updates to the machinery control system and HVAC systems, topside preservation and a stability assessment. The 225-foot Juniper-class seagoing buoy tenders were commissioned between 1996 and 2004. Fir will be stationed in Cordova, Alaska, after completing a roughly 7,000-8,000 nautical mile voyage through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific Coast. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Cmdr. Michael Adams.
For more information: In-Service Vessel Sustainment Program page