Office of External Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Date: April 18, 2008

Contact:  Ens. E. M. Butt
(251) 441-6277

COAST GUARD CUTTER CYPRESS RETURNS TO SERVICE

***Media Note***
Photos are available

MOBILE, Ala. - The Coast Guard Cutter Cypress has returned to service having completed a 75 day maintenance and repair period. The Cypress completed the maintenance and repair contract with Bender Shipyard in Mobile, Ala. 

The maintenance period, which began in January and finished late March, focused on general maintenance.  Bender Shipyard completed the work totaling $1.4 million in labor and parts, keeping the money awarded for the contract within the local economy.

The primary mission for the 225-foot, 2,000 ton sea-going buoy tender is servicing and management of 115 floating aids to naviation (ATON) from Brownsville, Texas, to Apalachicola, Fla. 

The Cypress is responisble for the following waterways: Pensacola Bay, Fla., Mobile Bar, Ala., Horn Island Pass, Miss., Southwest Pass, La., Galveston Bay, Texas, and Brazos Santiago Pass, Texas. 

The Cypress makes improvements to the ATON system based on user input and evaluations.

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U.S. Coast Guard - Saving lives since 1790