US Cutter Diligence Undergoes Maintenance

The Wilmington, N.C.-based Cutter Diligence recently entered the US Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay for drydock availability.

For the next three months, the 50-year-old medium endurance cutter will undergo critical maintenance work to ensure the cutter and its crew are able to accomplish their safety, security and stewardship missions.

“Diligence is entering her first major depot repair availability in three years at the Coast Guard Yard,” said Lt. Todd R. Devries, the cutter’s engineering officer. “The men and women of the Coast Guard Yard make up a fantastic industrial ship repair facility, and we can’t wait to see the results of this maintenance project.”

Shortly after arriving in Curtis Bay, Diligence was lifted out of the water on the Coast Guard Yard’s new synchronized lift platform dry dock. For the next nine weeks, Coast Guard Yard crew will replace the cutter’s worn shaft bearings, repaint the hull, underwater body, superstructure, and improve the habitability of crew berthing areas. Altogether, the work will cost approximately $2 million.

While critical work is being done on the Diligence, its crew will stay busy. Some will be attending training or will be detailed to other Coast Guard units. Those staying onboard will be working on areas and systems not being renewed or repaired by the Coast Guard Yard and completing a variety of other tasks to get the cutter fully prepared for her next patrol.

For over a century, the Coast Guard Yard has built, repaired and renovated ships for the Coast Guard. It is the service’s sole shipbuilding and major repair facility, and an essential part of the Coast Guard’s core industrial base and fleet support operations.

Diligence is one of 25 major assets to be worked on at the Coast Guard Yard in the past twelve months.

The Coast Guard Cutter Diligence is a 210 foot medium endurance cutter permanently homeported in Wilmington, N.C. with a crew of approximately 70. Diligence was most recently assigned to Operation Ocean Hunter to support Coast Guard missions along the eastern seaboard.

Diligence and 26 other medium endurance cutters are slated for replacement by the new Offshore Patrol Cutter. The OPC will operate more than 50 miles from land, carrying out the Coast Guard’s maritime security and safety activities in support of national interests. It will be an economical, multi-mission ship, providing pursuit boat and helicopter capabilities, and interoperability with other military and federal partners, superior to the cutters they replace. Equipped with modern sensors, the OPC will provide the enhanced surveillance necessary to detect threats far from U.S. shores and meet the demands of the Coast Guard’s homeland security, search and rescue, law enforcement and other vital missions.

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Press Release, July 11, 2014; Image: Flickr