Marine Exchange of Alaska
US Coast Guard in Alaska - 17th District
More than 3,900 members of "Team Coast Guard" accomplish a wide variety of missions in the 17th District. In a state that spans a distance normally covered by four time zones - with a coastline larger than that of the Lower 48 - it is easy to see the importance of the Coast Guard in Alaska. More than 2,500 active-duty members serve in Alaska. Helping with the missions are 417 Auxiliarists, 83 reservists and 258 civilian employees. Because Alaska is a maritime state, search and rescue is an important mission. During fiscal year 2004, the Coast Guard here conducted 607 search and rescue cases and saved 190 lives. Fisheries law enforcement is also an important mission in Alaska. During fiscal 2004, units working in Alaska waters conducted more than 453 domestic fisheries boardings to enforce international treaty obligations and U.S. fisheries regulations. There are 13 floating units based in Alaska: four 225-foot buoy tenders( SPAR in Kodiak, SYCAMORE in Cordova, HICKORY in Homer, and MAPLE in Sitka);one 175-foot buoy tender (ANTHONY PETIT in Ketchikan); five110-foot patrol boats( ANACAPA in Petersburg, LIBERTY in Auke Bay, MUSTANG in Seward, ROANOKE ISLAND in Homer and LONG ISLAND in Valdez); two medium-endurance cutters (ACUSHNET in Ketchikan and ALEX HALEY in Kodiak); and one 65-foot buoy tender (ELDERBERRY in Petersburg). Two small-boat stations with 47-foot utility boats round out the district's floating assets. Augmenting the district's law enforcement efforts are several medium and high-endurance cutters that routinely patrol Alaskan waters from the West Coast and Hawaii. Six C-130 aircraft and 12 helicopters based at air stations Kodiak and Sitka provide additional platforms for law enforcement, marine environmental protection, search and rescue, and logistics support. Alaska's waterways are its lifelines, making environmental protection and marine safety a major concern for Sector Juneau, Sector Anchorage and Marine Safety Unit Valdez. The Sectors and their five detachments, along with Vessel Traffic Service Valdez, meet these concerns. Seven buoy tenders and an aids-to-navigation team maintain nearly 1,300 navigational aids. Three of the district's six Long Range Navigation (LORAN) stations are among the Coast Guard's last isolated units.
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Based in Juneau, Alaska, the Seventeenth District is responsible for
the waters around Alaska, performing search and rescue, environmental
protection, and the maintenance of waterways specifically icebreaking. 