The USCG Forward from Portsmouth, Va., was equipped with a helicopter flight deck and satellite communications equipment, giving it the ability to communicate with military aircraft in the area. These and other features were upgraded when the ship underwent a nine-month renovation at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay.
It's one of 13 such cutters to be refurbished as part of a $480 million "mission effectiveness project," the yard's largest repair project ever and its signature undertaking for the last five years.
"The primary importance is that these are the vessels that are protecting our coast line," said Capt. John Bragaw, the yard's industrial manager. "We have 18 cutters in the Gulf in response to the oil spill, and we had 12 in Haiti."
Several of those ships went through MEP, as the project is referred to at the yard.
Set to wrap up in 2013, the long-range project has meant significant improvements to the vessels, some of which are more than 40 years old. Bragaw pointed to statistics that show pre-MEP vessels were mission-capable - not in need of any major repairs - about 40 percent of the time.
Post-MEP, the ships are in running order about 85 percent of the time.
Not as lucky
Coast Guard vessels not in the renovation program haven't been quite as lucky. A report released June 10 by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity found that one cutter deployed to the Gulf to help with the massive BP oil spill had serious mechanical problems that delayed rescue missions. That 87-foot vessel was not restored at the yard, said Dottie Mitchell, spokeswoman for the Coast Guard Yard.
Of the 12 major cutters assigned to Haiti relief operations, 10 encountered severe problems that affected their ability to conduct rescue missions, the report found. Two cutters had to return for repairs, and aircraft were diverted from search and rescue to ferry spare parts to Coast Guard crews.
Coast Guard officials dispute the figures in the report, claiming that only six cutters had problems, Mitchell said.
Senior Chief Steve Carlton, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, said the Forward and the USCG Valiant, the two ships in Haiti that underwent MEP, had only minor problems.
Both vessels had troubles with their water pump systems, but they were repaired on the scene within three days, Carlton said.
"We are seeing a return on our investment," said Cmdr. Robert McClure, commanding officer of the yard's legacy sustainment support unit, the tenant command overseeing the renovations.
'Our anchor project'
Workers at the yard are renovating three classes of cutters from as far away as Alaska. By the time they're done, they'll have updated 25 medium endurance cutters from the 210-foot and 270-foot classes, and 17 patrol boats, or 110-foot cutters.
The project accounts for about 65 percent of the yard's annual workload, Mitchell said.
The yard oversees ship maintenance, delivery of parts, information and support for Coast Guard facilities.
It employs about 600 people, including military personnel and civilians. Combined with its tenantcommands, the yard returns an estimated $120 million to the local economy, Mitchell said.
"This is our anchor project," she said.
It's also been quite a challenge for its workers, Bragaw and McClure said.
"They had done some work, but nothing like this," Bragaw said. "They were more familiar with the 210s (210-foot class)."
They're much more comfortable with the other classes of cutters these days, they said. When the project started, workers spent a full year renovating one patrol boat.
Now, they're down to about nine months, they said.
Many upgrades
On a recent day at the yard, about a dozen workers pounded away at the hull of the USCG Key Largo, a 110 footer from Key West, Fla. Those workers on the dock only represent a fraction of the employees who are working on the vessel, McClure said.
In all, about 50 Coast Guard employees help to renovate each vessel.
Vessels undergoing the MEP get the usual drydock treatment, including a new paint job for the hull. But the rest of the ship gets a complete makeover as well, including an updated air conditioning system, an oily water separator, better refrigeration, an engine room fire protection system and main diesel engine electronic governor control.
The patrol boats also get other structural repairs and new equipment including switchboards and generator sets, new electric cabling and updated berthing spaces.
The air conditioning upgrades are especially welcome, Bragaw said, because the surveillance equipment aboard each ship is ultra-sensitive to heat.
'Bridges that gap'
The vessels undergoing MEP are expected to last until the Coast Guard receives new maritime security cutters over the next 15 to 20 years.
"This bridges that gap," McClure said.
The MEP kicked off in May 2005 with much fanfare when the federal government gave the yard $30 million to start the work. The yard began renovating patrol boats that year, but work on the medium endurance cutters began in earnest two years ago.
The final 210 footer to be renovated, The USCG Steadfast from Astoria, Ore., will be completed in September. The last patrol boat will be finished in early 2012, and the last 270-foot vessel will depart a year after that.
"The Coast Guard is already trying to identify its next anchor project," McClure said.
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