SEATTLE - The Coast Guard Cutter "Healy" is back in Seattle. The 420-foot long ice breaker arrived at Pier 36 Sunday morning where joyful family members greeted the crew.
Icebreaking through 800 miles of Bering Sea ice, Healy escorted the Renda to and from Nome, where it safety offloaded 1.3 million gallons of fuel. Without the delivery, the town of Nome would have run out of its winter fuel reserves by March.
That mission was just part of an eight-month deployment for the Seattle-based Healy in the Arctic. During the Arctic West 2011 deployment, Healy spent seven months underway in the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean for four separate science operations.
Because much of their work is normally geared to science, crew members say the mission was not only historic but extremely rewarding.
“There's not too many words to describe it… a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something and we did it," said Chief Petty Officer Kurt Stewart.
The Healy has a permanent crew of 80; and her primary mission is scientific support.
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