“Coast Guard Cutter Healy , one of our only two icebreakers, had just begun her summer patrol and was up north of Alaska and the Chukchi Sea. It had an electrical fire in the engineering spaces; she’s now having to return to home port to try and affect repairs.”
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From that article it seems the Healy has made it’s last Artic voyage which is fine by me because the US needs new icebreakers imo. But what I do find disappointing is the USCG (US gov) can’t replicate technology or fabricate parts that could be fabricated in the 1990’s. I work on a ship thats older than the Healy & we’ve made pcb’s from scratch. Almost anything old that doesn’t look like they make anymore gets rebuilt and/or we create a spare with the lathe, milling machine etc. I’m not that great of an engineer but I can pretty much fabricate anything on an old ship with enough time, stock material & money. If I can’t, I sure the hell could find someone who could with Uncle Sam writing the check. What the hell is wrong with the USCG’s engineering department? They’re supposed to be regulating us & they can’t even keep their shit running? If we figured out how to read 2000yr old hieroglyphics with the Rosetta Stone we should be able to replicate parts from the 1990’s.
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Are you saying they should actually do something instead of just writing checks to future employers?
Maybe the CG needs to look at YouTube videos that show amateurs and home shop mechanics and machinists build, rebuild, restore, operate, and maintain stuff that’s been around as long as the CG. Look at what flip flop wearing Pakistanis are building with 1900s British machines and parts of discarded ships.
Geezus, what a sad commentary.
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I’m not sure what burnt up on the Healy this time, probably a transformer, but I am pretty confident my Filipino unlicensed could rebuild it for them as long as adobo & rice is on the line & they get half day Sundays.
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Yep, watched them rewind a forced draft fan on the sidewalk outside a shop in Dubai once.
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If you want it done faster you put a cooler with Red Horse on the pier and promise some lechun when the jobs finished
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The below video is for the billions around the world who don’t know where their electricity comes from. & yes, the pajama wearing folks in this video are wearing flip flops but if the uscg say they had another transformer fire aboard the Healy we’ll know who to call to prevent the worse case scenario of building a new icebreaker. Or we can run the old Aiviq until climate change eliminates all ice for us.
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This statement sound like the plan is to repair the ship and return to the Arctic.
The report says that the Healy ’s crew and contractors restored power to the affected motor, but the cutter returned to Seattle to “ensure all redundant systems are fully operational before returning to the Arctic.”’
From here
Yes, that statement does sound more optimistic than their firsts of,
“Most of the machinery systems aboard are antiquated and for some there aren’t even parts. We’re going to work as hard as we can to repair it and try to preserve the rest of the patrol but that’s in doubt. And that’s a concern because if Healy can’t continue that patrol the U.S. will have no surface presence in the Arctic this summer.”
When someone starts complaining about parts & using the old “we’re going to try as hard as we can” spill, you never know. Not what Captains, management or clients want to hear.
Does that mean there are no parts on the shelf within arm’s reach or is it a simple matter of they are no longer manufactured? Those parts were made once, they can be made again. I don’t think any metals or materials have gone extinct.
In this world of laser scanning, CAD-CAM digital manufacturing and proliferation of job shops that can turn out aerospace quality parts in no time someone needs to call bullshit on all the lame excuses for the institutional incompetence that defines the “leadership” of the camo wearing crowd.
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My coworkers & I have been discussing the current dilemma of the Healy & these are some of the ideas spitballed. 1. Maybe they have high turnover, a revolving door of inexperienced people who don’t know their boat or what spares to carry? 2. Poor maintenance on their transformers that allows dust accumulation & loose hardware? 3. Maybe no critical spares needed list before departure? 4. Maybe their office wants the crew to break it so bad Congress will expedite funding for new ship? 5. Maybe they’re just really dumb and/or lazy?
Regardless, i know it would be different in the private sector. The Healy & her crew would lose the contract to some other ship that would do more than, “try”. Hence a privately built icebreaker coming to get ready to take her place
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Without knowing the make of machinery and equipment on the Healy, nor what parts are needed;
It may be an idea to contact shipbreakers in Brownsville, or even in India, Turkey, Bangladesh etc. They MAY have some usable parts available.
PS> Airfreight to US is not that expencive.
Update:
Here is one of the many dealers at Alang, India:
Or the locals who buy the scrap can make them faster than the bureaucrats can generate a purchase order.
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Given that there are plenty of 1970s and 1980s icebreakers still in service, calling a vessel built in 1999 “antiquated” feels… wrong. It’s newer than my car.
Healy’s cycloconverter-based diesel-electric propulsion system was supplied by GEC-Alsthom. If original parts are no longer available and the USCG has run out of spares, I’m fairly sure ABB or Siemens would happily replace all transformers and drives for pocket money compared to what it costs to build a new icebreaker.
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IDK but I wouldn’t put too much weight on Lunday’s statement wrt parts and so forth.
It’s a quote from the Vice Admiral of the Coast Guard giving a talk at the Brookings Institute. From the context I’d guess he’s doing a little politicking for a bigger budget.
For a little context and the quote it’s at 5:40.
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So it came from the top brass & not from the CE over the sound powered telephone. Seems about right. I say that because if anyone else told an USCG, ABS or US Port State inspector that they pull up to other ships to rob parts to stay in compliance before voyages the inspector would probably pull the COI for both vessels & maybe the Document of Compliance from the company. I’m actually happy only the USCG & US Navy can get away with this. If a CEO, VP or COO said this, that would be the end of that company.
True. BUT, at least TWO heavy breakers are needed because if things run true to course, one will “be broken” at least part of the time.
Back in the day, we had, I believe, seven Wind-Class "heavy breakers. All the same with a “standard” propulsion system, diesel electric “locomotive” propulsion. Keep it simple.
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If I recall correctly, the latest USCG fleet mix study called for eight or nine icebreakers in total of which half should be medium and the other half heavy. It sounds like a reasonable number.
edit:
Oh dear.
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It might be worth it for a venture capital firm or a billionaire to rush a bare bones, no thrills icebreaker through a US shipyard & just sell it to the USCG for a premium when they’re finished. The US Gov & USCG so far have demonstrated they are completely incapable of building one theirselves.
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