Cg-Healy

A few days after the CG 'Healy' entered the East Siberian Sea after leaving Kodiak on Aug 27, 2023, and sailed in proximity to Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR) as part of a month-long science expedition to service oceanographic equipment, the government-owned 'Akademik Nemchinov' left the port of Pevek on the shore of the East Siberian Sea on Sep 1 and headed towards the 'Healy'’s position. Experts surmised that the 'Akademik Nemchinov' was navigating into the 'Healy'’s path to keep an eye on it. As a state vessel, the 'Healy' is not subject to requiring authorisation for transit on the NSR and even the Russian requirements for commercial vessels to obtain a permit to travel along the route are not based on international law. Under international law of the UN Convention on the Law of the 'Healy' would be permitted to transit the route without prior authorization from Russia, as other state vessels have done in the past. A separate issue would be a transit using the international straits between the various islands of the East Siberian Sea and elsewhere along the NSR. Russia describes these areas as internal waters and recently passed a law against their use by military vessels. Their use by a US state ship would signify a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) as the US regularly carries out e.g. in the Taiwan Straits.

The 'Healy (WAGB-20)' suffered a fire in one of the ship’s main engines on Aug 18, 2020, 60 nautical miles off Seward, Alaska, en route to the Arctic. The electrical fire was reported at 9:30 p.m. A fire team disconnected the affected motor, and the fire was confirmed extinguished by 9:56 p.m. The cause of the fire was currently unknown. Due to the fire, Healy’s starboard propulsion and shaft were no longer operational, and the ship was transiting back to its homeport in Seattle for further inspections and repairs. Prior to the fire, the 'Healy' completed a 26-day patrol in support of Operation Arctic Shield along the U.S.-Russian Maritime Boundary Line, and in the Arctic. On Aug. 15, the 'Healy' was in Seward and embarked 11 scientists before departing on Aug. 18 to conduct science operations in the Arctic. As a result of the fire, all Arctic operations have been cancelled.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy arrived at the North Pole September 5, 2015, becoming the first U.S. surface ship to do so unaccompanied. Healy’s arrival to the North Pole marks the fourth time a U.S. surface vessel has ever reached the North Pole, and the first since 2005. The Seattle-homeported Healy departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska August 9 with a crew and science party of 145 people in support of GEOTRACES, a historic international effort to study the geochemistry of the world’s oceans. This expedition id funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is focused on studying the Arctic Ocean to meet a number of scientific goals, including the creation of baseline measurements of the air, ice, snow, seawater, meltwater and ocean bottom sediment for future comparisons. http://www.marinelink.com/news/reaches-cutter-guard397533.aspx