Coast Guard File Photo by Petty Officer Shawn Eggert
PORTLAND, Ore. – Three Coast Guard cutter crews and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew are scheduled to participate in the annual Portland Rose Festival Fleet Week, June 7 to 11.
The Coast Guard Cutters Alert, Bluebell and Orcas are participating in the annual Parade of Ships and will be open for free public tours while the helicopter crew will conduct a public demonstration of search and rescue techniques during the festival.
The Coast Guard Cutter Alert, a 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutter homeported in Astoria, will be open for tours Thursday and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Coast Guard Cutter Alert’s missions take the crew all over the Northern Pacific Ocean from the maritime boundary line between Russia and the United States to the coastal waters off Washington, Oregon, and California.
The Coast Guard Cutter Bluebell, a 100-foot Inland Buoy Tender, homeported in Portland, is one of only two remaining 100-foot buoy tenders still in Coast Guard service. The crew’s primary mission is servicing aids to navigation on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, covering more than 500 river miles. Tours of the Bluebell will be provided Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Coast Guard Cutter Orcas, a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Coos Bay, will be open for tours Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Missions of the Orcas crew include living marine resources enforcement, law enforcement, search and rescue, and homeland security.
The Jayhawk helicopter crew will be performing a demonstration along the Willamette River just south of the Burnside Bridge, Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Rose Festival Fleet Week has been an annual event in Portland for the last 110 years.
