USCG Neah Bay stopover

The River class icebreaker USCG Neah Bay put in this morning for a stopover. The cutter (and in this case also referred to as a tug) is en route from its home base in Cleveland OH, to Baltimore MD.

Built in 1980 by Tacoma Boat Building, the cutter will be starting a "SLEP" [Service Life Extension Program] refit that will extend its life by 15 years. The vessels of this class have been rotating through this year long program, and often stop in Halifax either to or from the Great Lakes.

Although the winter of 2015-2016 was a normal one for ice on the Great Lakes the cutter was kept busy, operating in Lake Erie and as far north as the Soo locks. On the Lakes Canadian and US Coast Guards cooperate to break ice and it is often the case that the US boats work in Canadian ports and waters and vice versa.

The last time I saw this particular boat was July 12 to 13, 1990. It appears little changed from then.

.