SEATTLE — Vice Adm. Manson K. Brown, Pacific Area Commander, presented crewmembers of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy with a Coast Guard Unit Commendation award during a ceremony in Seattle, Tuesday.
The unit commendation was awarded to the crew for extremely meritorious service in support of Coast Guard operations, during their seven month 2011 science mission, which was extended an additional month in order to avert a potential energy crisis in Nome, Alaska.
Healy escorted the Russian-flagged tanker vessel Renda through more than 300 miles of Bering Sea ice to make the delivery of 1.3 million gallons of fuel to Nome possible. Following the fuel transfer, the Healy crew freed the Renda from the ice, where it was purposely frozen and led the Renda back across more than 400 miles of sea ice to the open water of the Bering Sea.
As a Coast Guard cutter, Healy is also a capable platform for supporting other missions in the polar regions, including logistics, search and rescue, ship escort, environmental protection, and enforcement of laws and treaties.
