Coast Guard ship traffic last week

Transits of two different coast guard vessels coincided with my ferry travels this week, one USCG and the other CCG. First, on Tuesday, the veteran fisheries science vessel CCGS Alfred Needler:

CCGS Alfred Needler.

Built in Pictou at Ferguson Industries Limited in 1982, Alfred Needler is showing her age and is probably due for replacement.

CCGS Alfred Needler.

CCGS Alfred Needler.

Photography of early morning ship traffic like this, before sunrise, usually benefits from nice colours in the sky (when it isn't overcast, of course).

Friday saw the arrival of the USCGC Seneca (WMEC 906), a Bear or Famous class medium endurance cutter. Laid down in 1982 and commissioned in 1984, Seneca isn't young either. The entire class of ships has apparently benefited from inherited equipment from retired USN Perry class frigates, to extend their lives into the 2030s. After 35 years of service in the USCG, though, Seneca looks to be in fairly good shape externally, and well taken care of. She went alongside in HMC Dockyard, and will probably stay until at least Monday morning. 

The US and Canadian Coast Guards differ in mission and manning - while the CCG is a civilian organization tasked with missions such as search and rescue, maintenance of aids to navigation, and icebreaking, the USCG is an armed service which does these missions as well as patrol the territorial waters of the United States. 

USCGC Seneca.

USCGC Seneca.

USCGC Seneca.

USCGC Seneca.

USCGC Seneca.

USCGC Seneca.

The first member of this class, USCGC Bear, is named after an earlier Bear - USRC Bear (AG-29).  The earlier Bear (retold here by Andrew Toppan) lived an exciting life, and eventually sank off Nova Scotia in the tow of Irving Birch while on her way to Philadelphia. 

For no better reason than that I haven't shown them here yet, the CCG lifeboat Courtenay Bay also made an appearance, but back in early February. Based in Saint John, Courtenay Bay is a member of the British-designed Arun class of search and rescue boats. 

Built in 1994, these boats are gradually being replaced with the newer, larger, and more capable lifeboats designed by Robert Allen Limited and based on the British Severn class lifeboat. 

A good comparison of the Arun-adapted Cap-aux-Meules (left) and the larger Severn-adapted Baie de Plaisance on the right, taken in the Magdalen Islands in August 2018.

It is my understanding that both of these classes are preferred over the USCG-adapted Cape-class lifeboats introduced in the early 2000s.