On Saturday, February 7 the Marinette Marine Corp. (MMC) will launch the U. S. Coast Guard cutter Alder. Alder is part of the plan to replace the Coast Guardâs World War II era 180-foot cutters. Alder is a 225-foot Juniper Class seagoing buoy tender with icebreaking capabilities. It is the 16th cutter of a planned fleet of sixteen to be built by MMC in Marinette. MMC also built fourteen 175-foot Keeper Class coastal buoy tenders for the Coast Guard. In October 2001 MMC was award the contract to build an icebreaker to replace the Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw, âthe Great Lakes Icebreakerâ. Mrs. Judy Hull, wife of Vice Admiral James Hull, is the cutterâs sponsor. Vice Admiral Hull, the Atlantic Area commander, will be the keynote speaker. Alder will be homeported in Duluth, Minn.