Vanport Marine, Inc. was awarded the contract to perform the Dockside Repair of the USCGC Bluebell. The scope of the contract included upgrades to the Allied buoy and cargo crane; deck preservation; repairs to the weather tight doors; renewal of the sewage shore tie valve; and repair of the remote fuel cutoff valve and deck box. The work was to be completed at the vessel’s home pier at 676 N. Basin Ave, Portland, OR. The performance period was from June 12, 2018 and completed July 18, 2018.
The cutter Bluebell is an inland buoy tender built by the Birchfield Boiler Co. in Tacome, WA, and was commissioned April 4, 1945. The crew services more than 420 river aids per year. The USCGC Bluebell crew covers 500 river miles on three major rivers, from th mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon/Washington border, the Willamette River and the Snake River, which lies more than 300 miles up the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA all the way to Lewiston, Idaho. (Courtesy of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office).