The Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley is back in Kodiak for the first time since July after patrolling the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean.
According to a press release dated Oct. 8, Alex Haley was one of the respondents that “intercepted a Russian Federation naval vessel” earlier this month.
Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Cameron Snell said the foreign military vessel was operating within normal operations and maritime law.
“We were in communication for them trying to avoid ice, and they had to skirt around it by entering our side of the maritime boundary line,” he told KMXT.
Snell called it “meeting presence with presence.”
The Alex Haley boarded 22 boats, issuing 27 fishery violations. Two of those vessels also had to end their trips because of hazardous and unsafe conditions.
In all the cutter traversed hundreds of miles of Alaska’s waters from the end of the Aleutian Chain to the edges of ice in the Arctic. The latter also earned the crew an Arctic Service Medal for three weeks serving above the Arctic Circle.
Snell said it’s good to have the crew home though.
“It’s good to have them back – they’ve been out for a while,” he said. “Those are people, they’ve got families back here that they’ve been looking forward to get back to, so everyone’s happy to have them back.”
Snell did not say when Alex Haley will leave port for its next patrol.
Editor's Note: A previous version listed Snell's title as a public information officer, which has different responsibilities.
