USCGC ''Kukui'' (WLB-203) is the third cutter in the ''Juniper''-class of seagoing buoy tenders and is the third ship to bear the name. She is under the operational control of the Commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District and is home-ported in Sitka, Alaska. Her primary area of responsibility is the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska. ''Kukui'' conducts heavy lift aids-to-navigation operations, and law enforcement, homeland security, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue as directed.

Construction and characteristics

USCGC ''Kukui'' was built by the

Marinette Marine Corporation Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) is an American shipbuilding firm in Marinette, Wisconsin. Marinette Marine was a subsidiary of Manitowoc Marine Group of Wisconsin from 2000 to 2009, when it was sold to Fincantieri Marine Group. History M ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and launched on 3 May 1997. She has a length of , a beam of , and a draft of . ''Kukui'' is propelled by two

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

3608 diesel engines rated at 3,100 horsepower, and has a top speed of 16 knots. She has a single controllable-pitch propeller, which along with bow and stern thrusters allow the ship to be maneuvered to set buoys close offshore and in restricted waters. A dynamic global positioning system coupled with machinery plant controls and a chart display and information system allow station-keeping of the ship within a five-meter accuracy of the planned position without human intervention. ''Kukui'' is also equipped with an oil-skimming system known as the Spilled Oil Recovery System (SORS) which is used in her mission of maritime environmental protection. The cutter has a 2,875 square foot buoy deck area with a crane used for servicing large ocean buoys.

Mission

USCGC ''Kukui'' is a seagoing

buoy tender A buoy tender is a type of vessel used to maintain and replace navigational buoys. This term can also apply to an actual person who does this work. The United States Coast Guard uses buoy tenders to accomplish one of its primary missions of main ...

with her primary mission being the servicing of aids-to navigation buoys in her area of responsibility (AOR) within the Seventeenth Coast Guard District. ''Kukui''s other missions include maritime law enforcement, homeland security, ensuring the security of ports and waterways, maritime environmental response, as well as search and rescue duties. She is home-ported in Sitka, Alaska. Her primary area of responsibility is the inland and coastal waters of southeastern Alaska.

History

Commissioned on 9 January 1998, USCGC ''Kukui'' is named after the official state tree of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and is the third ship to bear the name. was the second ship to bear the name. While stationed in Hawaii, ''Kukui'' was involved in the rescue of a Taiwanese fisherman from the fishing vessel ''Sheng Yi Tsai No. 166'' on 5 December 2007. The injured fisherman was transferred to ''Kukui'' via the cutter's small boat over 200 nm from Johnson Atoll, an isolated atoll historically used by the U.S. military as an airbase, nuclear and biological weapons site, and secret missile base. ''Kukui'' proceeded to Johnson Atoll where the fisherman was brought ashore. A C-130 Hercules from Air Station Kodiak landed at the abandoned airfield after the crew of ''Kukui'' swept the airstrip for debris. The fisherman was flown to Honolulu for advanced medical treatment. ''Kukui'' left her original homeport of Honolulu for the last time on 9 January 2017. She arrived at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland for her midlife maintenance on 21 February 2017. After the repairs and upgrades were completed, ''Kukui'' departed for her new homeport of Sitka, Alaska on 9 June 2018.

Notes

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Construction and characteristics

Mission

History

See also

Notes

Further reading