PORT ANGELES — The Active — the North Olympic Peninsula’s largest Coast Guard cutter — is scheduled to deploy soon, only weeks after completing three months of intensive maintenance in dry dock in Seattle.
The largest of the five white-and-orange ships stationed at the Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles pier at the end of Ediz Hook returned to Port Angeles in mid-March after 94 days in dry dock. Its 75-member crew immediately began preparations to depart again.
Last week, dozens of Coast Guard members were painting, cleaning and doing maintenance in places that would be hard to get to while at sea, such as below the Active’s engines.
The exact date of the Active’s departure from Port Angeles is classified because of security concerns, said Lt. Andrew Grantham, operations officer of the 210-foot cutter.
But he did say that the Active will be primarily assigned to fisheries enforcement as well as search and rescue duties.
Grantham noted that a new assignment for the Coast Guard includes figuring out how to deal with the opening of the Northwest Passage, an area of the Arctic Ocean once blocked with ice year-round.
The melting of arctic ice in past decades has opened a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“We live in a constantly changing world,” Grantham said.
Instead of dwelling on the fact that many of their new tasks are precedent-setting, Grantham explained that the Coast Guard must simply do what needs to be done.
That includes responding to the 2010 explosion of and massive oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, which was unlike any disaster the Coast Guard had ever seen.
“The Coast Guard had to take a new approach,” Grantham said.
“Semper Paratus,” he said, quoting the Coast Guard’s motto. “We’re always ready.”
The Active and its fellow medium-range cutters typically spend more than half the year on patrol.
Their schedule generally consists of about 60 days at sea and 60 in port, although the Active has been on assignments for as long as 81 days or as short as 20, Grantham said.
Typical deployments for cutters depend entirely on where the ship is needed, he said.
A 60-day deployment is measured by how long the ship is away from its homeport, not how many days it is actually at sea, Grantham said.
The Active is under the command of the Coast Guard Pacific Area, which includes District 11-California; District 13-Washington and Oregon coasts; District 14-Hawaii to the Indian Ocean; and District 17-Alaska.
Ships under the command of the Pacific Area can be assigned to patrol in any of the four Pacific Ocean regions, to undertake different missions, according to the Coast Guard’s needs, Grantham said. Those duties can include search and rescue, living marine resources, marine environmental protection, drug and migrant interdiction, and port, waterways and coastal security.
Commissioned in 1966, the Active has a 34-foot beam, displaces 1,000 tons and draws 10 feet of water.
Its cruising range is 5,000 miles at 15 knots, and it is designed for an operating endurance — which includes food, fuel and other storage capacity — of about 30 days.
With a top speed of 18 knots, it has an approximate range of 2,200 miles.
The Active is powered by a pair of locomotive engines with turbo exhaust systems, Grantham said.
The cutter can handle 30-foot seas without too much difficulty, Grantham said, but unless there is a reason to head into a storm, such as for a search-and-rescue operation, the sea allows plenty of space to navigate around them.
Having Internet access at sea, he added, means the crew can get better information on weather and sea conditions, thus making missions more efficient.
Typical reasons for pulling into port during a deployment include to refuel, restock food, get parts, or throw out the trash, he said.
Materials that break down easily in nature are disposed of overboard, but plastics, metals and anything else not biodegradable are compacted and stored until there is a place to dispose of it properly.
“When we’re out of space for trash, it’s time to come in,” he said.
Enlisted crew members live in compartments with 12 to 21 beds, while chiefs and officers have smaller, more private quarters with two to four beds.
Three female officers are assigned to the Active, Grantham said.
The Active has a flight deck which allows for the deployment of helicopters, and extra living space to accommodate crews if needed, but typically the crew of 12 officers and 63 enlisted Coast Guard members are the only people on the ship.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
