Chesapeake Event at US Coast Guard Yard
On May 8, 2024, members of the Chesapeake Section of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and the Flagship Section of the American Society of Naval Engineers conducted a joint meeting at the Coast Guard Yard. They received a brief on the Surface Forces Logistics Center from SFLC CO CAPT Andrew Pecora and the Coast Guard Yard by Yard CO CAPT David Obermeier. CAPT Pecora explained how the SFLC is organized along product lines based on the different ship types the Coast Guard operates as well as shared services including the Coast Guard Yard. In his brief, CAPT Obermeier mentioned that the Yard performs 20 percent of the total industrial work performed by SFLC and provides flexibility that commercial shipyards can’t always provide. The Yard also generates its own electrical power and steam fueled by methane gas from a nearby City of Baltimore landfill. He also mentioned the Yard is hiring engineers so interested Section members should check USA Jobs. 
After the briefs CAPT Obermeier provided a behind-the-scenes tour of the Yard. One of the highlights was the Yard Museum with several artifacts dating to the Yard’s establishment in 1899 under the Revenue Cutter Service. Much of the Yard’s workload is devoted to service life extension and modernization availabilities of cutters. One unique approach by the Coast Guard is that the crew from incoming vessels transfer to a sister ship completing its availability and the ship is decrewed during the industrial period, freeing up manpower to meet fleet needs. The Yard also performs regular maintenance on the Barque Eagle and deactivates older Coast Guard cutters as well as preparing them for transfer to allied countries for further service. During the tour CAPT Obermeier also pointed out both ongoing and planned capital improvement projects necessary to support the new
classes of cutters. The afternoon was capped off by enjoying Wing Night at the Drydock Club. Participants were from many corners of the area’s maritime industry – USCG Marine Safety Center, USCG Office of Design & Engineering Standards, US Naval Academy faculty, NAVSEA Technical Warrant Holder, former Yard engineer, former Sparrows Point engineer, commercial sector engineers, the State Department, and local USCG employees.