The following is the text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(JUNEAU, Alaska) — The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Maple arrived at Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Md., on Tuesday after completing their voyage through the Northwest passage.
Maple departed from its home port in Sitka, Alaska, on July 12. It transited above the Arctic Circle for 27 days.
Maple will now undergo scheduled maintenance in dry dock at Coast Guard Yard for repairs and upgrades. Maple’s crew will return to Sitka to take command of the 225-foot Coast Guard cutter Kukui, which was previously home-ported in Honolulu, Hawaii and is currently completing a midlife renovation at the yard.
This summer marks the 60th anniversary of three Coast Guard cutters and one Canadian ship that convoyed through the Northwest Passage, which are several passageways through the complex archipelago of the Canadian Arctic. From May to September 1957, the crews of the U.S. Coast Guard cutters Storis, Spar and Bramble, along with the crew of the Canadian icebreaker HMCS Labrador, charted, recorded water depths and installed aids to navigation for future shipping lanes.
Coast Guard cutter Maple is a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender. It was commissioned on Oct. 19, 2001.
