On April 25^th, Great Lakes Shipyard hauled out the United States Coast Guard’s 125’ x 52’ Aids to Navigation Barge (12001). Using the Shipyard’s 770-ton Marine Travelift, the yard lifted the 620-ton AToN barge quickly and easily, and placed it gently on drydocking blocks with precision and expertise.

Based in Detroit, Michigan, the buoy tending crane barge is normally paired with the Ice Breaking Cutter BRISTOL BAY, and serves as a buoy tender to handle navigation buoys marking shipping lanes of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. The barge will remain in the yard until mid-June under a USCG contract for routine maintenance and repairs.

Great Lakes Shipyard’s Marine Travelift is the largest on the Great Lakes, the 2^nd largest in the western hemisphere, and the 3^rd largest in the world.

The shipyard immediately began work, which includes but is not limited to:

• Routine Inspections
• Heat Exchangers Inspection, Hydro Testing & Cleaning
• Anchor Windlass Inspection & Repairs
• Anchor/Chain Preservation
• Traction Winches Inspection & Repairs
• Gypsy Winches Overhaul
• Buoy & Cargo Handling Crane Inspection & Repairs
• Buoy & Construction Deck Preservation
• Ventilation Systems Cleaning
• Fender Repair
• Hydraulic Pump Overhaul
• Ballast Piping Updates
• Thruster Unit Overhaul

The BRISTOL BAY’s AToN Barge is one of two (2) such barges operating on the Great Lakes.  The other, which is normally paired with the USCGC MOBILE BAY, is stationed in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.