The Wilmington-based U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Diligence will be missing from dock alongside Riverfront Park for nine weeks. It’s not on a mission; the cutter is in Maryland undergoing a major overhaul.
The Diligence left Wilmington on June 14 and moored at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, for dry dock availability on June 17, according to a news release from the Coast Guard.
The 50–year-old, 210-foot medium endurance cutter will undergo critical maintenance work for the next three months to ensure the cutter and its crew are able to accomplish their safety, security and stewardship mission.
“Diligence is entering her first major depot repair availability in three years at the Coast Guard Yard,” Lt. Todd R. Devries, the cutter’s engineering officer, said. “The men and women of the Coast Guard Yard make up a fantastic industrial ship repair facility, and we can’t wait to see the results of this maintenance project.”
At the Coast Guard Yard in Maryland, the Diligence was lifted out of the water and onto a new synchronized lift platform dry dock.
For nine weeks, crews will work to replace the cutter’s worn shaft bearings, repaint the hull, underwater body and superstructure, as well as improve the crew’s living quarters.
The Diligence overhaul will cost $2 million.
The Diligence is one of 25 major assets to be worked on at the Coast Guard Yard in Maryland in the past 12 months. For over a century, the yard has built, repaired and renovated ships for the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard Cutter Diligence is permanently home-ported in Wilmington with a 70 crew members. It was most recently assigned to Operation Ocean Hunter to support Coast Guard missions along the eastern seaboard.
The Diligence was commissioned in 1964. This year marks its 50th anniversary.
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