Page 43: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2022)

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD “Our 50 gallons-per-hour fuel consumption only works if

The Coast Guard Cutters Joseph Gerczak we have both main engines running optimally at 900 rpm. We and Juniper refuel in Papeete, Tahiti, can’t maintain speed and be fuel ef? cient on a single engine. while underway during Operation Aiga,

And we can’t run on just one engine at full bore, because it

February 6, 2022. The two cutters are in the will exponentially burn more fuel,” Blinsky said. “We base region combating illegal, unreported, and all of our calculations off of burn rate per hour, not speed.” unregulated ? shing and other maritime threats

The sea state was such that it made the transit slower, and on the high seas throughout the Paci? c. also made a refueling at sea (RAS) a more dif? cult evolution. “We wanted to avoid a RAS if possible,” said Blinsky.

hull’ buoy tender in case we need to take on fuel at sea. But Sabatini said that the lower speed poses some other prob- we have to be very careful with our fuel, and how we run our lems for the engines. “The diesels are really designed to oper- engines, and balance the need to have enough provisions for ate at higher RPMs. When we were going for a week to ten the trip and arrive safety with at least 20 percent fuel on board days at a relatively slow speed, the carbon isn’t getting blown with the need to get down there so we can get to work.” out. So, I was worried about that build up, and concerned

The difference in distance from Honolulu to American Sa- about replacing injectors at a higher rate than normal.” moa and to Tahiti in French Polynesia is about 2000 to 3000 FRC maintenance support is centralized, and managed from nautical miles, with Tahiti being further away. In 2019, Jo- Baltimore, where parts are stored. “It can takes weeks to get seph Gerczak made the ? rst unsupported transit to American to Hawaii, and longer to get to Guam, American Samoa or

Samoa as a proof of concept, and more recently to Tahiti. Tahiti,” Sabatini said. “The Coast Guard is pushing the boundaries a little bit to There were other considerations in planning the expedition- see how far we can really go,” said Lt. Joseph Blinsky, the ary patrols. Fox said personnel injuries or illnesses were a ma-

Joseph Gerczak’s commanding of? cer. “That’s why we were jor concern. Unlike the WLBs and WMSLs, the FRCs do not the proof of concept to go to French Polynesia. We proved have an independent duty corpsman on board, and the risk that it could be done unsupported.” has to be considered because there was no higher level of care

To ensure a safe transit, the Joseph Gerczak operated with readily available. “If someone got hurt on one of these patrols, a 225-foot buoy tender (WLB) nearby in case there was a how are we going to get them to higher level medical care? problem. Many of these islands don’t have the level of medical care we “We were the ? rst FRC to go down there, and we arrived at might need. If something goes wrong, we might need a tender a comfortable fuel level, but that’s relative. We did program or a WMSL nearby with a corpsman and a sickbay.” in a safety buffer. But there isn’t much margin if there was a COVID made the patrols even more complicated. Crews problem. It’s de? nitely a matter of weather and sea state per- often had to stay on board when in port. Getting repair parts mitting and nothing going wrong. Blinsky said. and provisions to the ship more dif? cult and time consuming.

If necessary, the FRC could take on fuel from the WLB. “We can plan these trips in detail, but each unexpected de- “FRCs have refueled from tenders before. We haven’t con- viation from that plan comes with a set of unknowns,” said ducted a RAS with an WLB, but we have done an astern refu- Blinsky.

eling with a WMSL,” Blinsky said. FRCs also patrol around Midway, Wake, French Frigate

Normally FRCs have a ? ve-day endurance, but the longer Shoals and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Na- transit required special preparations. “Our CSs (culinary spe- tional Monument, which is the largest contiguous fully pro- cialists) did a great job allocating and maximizing our stor- tected conservation area under U.S. jurisdiction and the larg- age,” said Fox. “We had extra freezers and reefers on the est marine conservation area in the world.

bridge and out of the mezzanine deck.” “When we go downrange, we’re conducting a presence

The FRCs are powered by a pair of 5,800 SHP 20-cylinder mission and also helping our partners with the uniform en-

MTU Series 4000 M93L diesel engines. They’re called fast forcement of the Western and Central Paci? c Fisheries Com- response cutters for a reason. mittee agreement, and monitoring the ? shing activities in the

Even though FRCs have good speed—up to 28 knots--the various nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs). COVID

Joseph Gerczak’s Chief Engineer, MK2 Scott Sabatini, said permitting, we can conduct inspections and ensure the ? shing the cutter sailed to Tahiti at about ten knots to save fuel. vessels are who they say they are, catching only what they’re “When we’re going somewhere fast, we like to run at 1,800 allowed to catch, and have the proper preventative equipment rpm,” Sabitini said. “At that speed we’re burning about 500 to ensure against accidental catches of sea birds and turtles,” gallons per hour and our fuel capacity is about 16,000 gallons. Blinsky said. “In the U.S. EEZ we have authority and juris-

So, it dwindles pretty quickly. For a transit this long, we need diction. In other nation EEZs we’ll take ship riders with us to burn closer to 50 gallons per hour.” who give us that authority.” www.marinelink.com 43

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