The Manitowoc Company, Inc. launched the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alder, the last ship in a series of 16 seagoing buoy tenders being built at Manitowoc's Marinette Marine subsidiary. This 225-ft, Juniper-class vessel is part of a series of contracts that were awarded to Marinette in 1993 and 1998.
"Alder is a highly sophisticated cutter that will help the U.S.
Coast Guard's homeland security efforts and other missions," said Dennis McCloskey, president of Manitowoc's Marine Group. "We are proud of our role in building these buoy tenders and we look forward to continuing to work with the Coast Guard on other projects."
The launch ceremony, which took place on February 7, featured Vice Admiral James D. Hull, Commander of the Atlantic Area, as the keynote speaker, with Judith Hull, the admiral's wife and sponsor of the ship, performing the traditional christening ceremony.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alder will operate from Duluth, Minn., under the command of Lt. Commander Steve Teschendorf, who will oversee its crew of six officers and 34 enlisted personnel. Alder and her sister cutters now operating in the Great Lakes, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico, are equipped to perform missions that include servicing aids to navigation, search and rescue, law enforcement, pollution response, and domestic ice-breaking.
The USCGC Alder is named after a previous Coast Guard cutter that served the United States between 1924 and 1947. The original ALDER was commissioned as part of the fleet operated by the U.S. Lighthouse Service.
In addition to the Juniper-class buoy tenders that it has built for the U.S. Coast Guard, Marinette Marine is constructing three 310-foot passenger ferries for New York City's Department of Transportation, a new Great Lakes ice breaker for the U.S. Coast Guard, the Improved Navy Lighterage System (INLS) for the U.S. Navy, plus an ocean-going tug for a commercial customer.