Coast Guard’s Largest Ice Breaker To Visit Juneau

The Coast Guard cutter Healy and crew is scheduled to stop in Juneau for a port call October 24-27. The ship departed Seattle June 13 to begin its Arctic cruise. The Healy crew circumnavigated the North American continent on its cruise. The crew and scientists on board conducted numerous science operations. Some of the science operations included studying the effects of the freshwater flux from the Arctic into the North-Atlantic. The crew also conducted 10 days of ocean bottom mapping and studied the impact of global change on the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea shelf. After months at sea, the ship and crew is visiting Juneau to rest and re-supply. The cutter is home ported in Seattle. Juneau is the crew’s first port call since mid-July. The cutter Healy is named after Captain Michael A. Healy. Capt Healy born near Macon, Georgia in 1839 began a seagoing career in 1854. Healy started sailing Alaska waters in 1875 and remained until 1895. The Coast Guard took delivery of the Healy in November 1999. The ship is 420 feet long with a maximum width of 82 feet, weighing 16,000 tons. The ship’s two shafts provide 30,000 horsepower each. The crew consists of 75 Coast Guard men and women and 35 scientists. The ship’s minimum icebreaking requirement is 4.5-feet at 3-knots. It rammed through pressure ridges as high as 45-feet.