A U.S. Coast Guard ship has arrived in Cordova after a five-week voyage from Baltimore, Md. The USCGC Fir carried 47 crew, some of whom had been away from home for up to four months.
Residents welcomed the Fir from Spouse’s Point, cheering and displaying banners. After the Fir passed, residents hurried to the city-owned pier where the ship was to dock. As Coast Guardsmen filed down the gangway, they were reunited with spouses, children and friends. Perhaps the most effusive reunion was between Coast Guardsman Brigitte Baskin and her canine companion, Koda Bear.
Calm weather made the trip a smooth one, said Collin Bronson, the Fir’s captain.
The 225-foot cutter’s primary mission is to service buoys and other navigation aids near the coasts of Oregon and Washington and along the Columbia River, according to a U.S. Coast Guard fact sheet. The Fir is also fitted with a Spilled Oil Recovery System, which would allow it to assist in a cleanup event, as it did during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
