April 8, 2022 —
Families of Coast Guard Cutter Spar’s crew watch the seagoing buoy tender’s arrival at its new homeport of Duluth, Minnesota, March 30, 2022. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. j.g. Jacob Ricci.
The 225-foot seagoing buoy tender major maintenance availability (MMA) program marked another milestone March 30 when Coast Guard Cutter Spar arrived at its new homeport of Duluth, Minnesota.
Spar is the 11th vessel in its class to complete an MMA through the In-Service Vessel Sustainment Program. Spar will break up ice for vessels on Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan, as well as conduct law enforcement and buoy tending missions.
MMA work on the 225-foot Juniper class ensures the vessels will achieve the full 30-year designed service life. Hull and structural repairs and replacement of obsolete, unsupportable or maintenance-intensive equipment – including updating the HVAC systems and recapitalizing the aid-to-navigation crane and small boat davit – are being completed at Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore. Total cost is about $16 million per hull.
Spar, built in Marinette, Wisconsin, replaces Coast Guard Cutter Alder, which left port last summer for its MMA at Coast Guard Yard. MMA work on this class began in July 2015; work on the five remaining seagoing buoy tenders will be scheduled over the next two years.
For more information: In-Service Vessel Sustainment Program page