WACHAPREAGUE

WACHAPREAGUE (IMO: 9816919) is a Towing/Tug vessel sailing under the United States of America flag. It has an overall length of 476 feets and a beam of 72 feets.

WACHAPREAGUE

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Vessel Description

USCGC WACHAPREAGUE (WLM-559) is a United States Coast Guard Keeper-class Coastal Buoy Tender, the 9th vessel of her class. Named after the town of Wachapreague, Virginia, she is homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia, and serves under the Fifth Coast Guard District.

As a coastal buoy tender, her primary mission is the maintenance, replacement, and servicing of aids to navigation (ATON), including buoys, beacons, and dayboards along the Mid-Atlantic coastline and Chesapeake Bay region. The Keeper-class vessels were designed specifically to replace aging buoy tenders and feature improved maneuverability through diesel-electric propulsion and Z-drive azimuthing thrusters, enabling precise positioning while conducting buoy work without anchoring.

The ship is equipped with a heavy-lift crane on her buoy deck capable of handling large navigational buoys, and her shallow draft allows access to nearshore and inland waterway environments. Secondary missions include search and rescue (SAR), maritime law enforcement support, marine environmental protection, and disaster response when required.

The vessel was constructed by Marinette Marine Corporation in Wisconsin and commissioned into Coast Guard service in 2018, representing one of the more modern assets within the USCG tender fleet.

Note: Some technical specifications reflect class-level data standard to the Keeper-class WLM series. Vessel-specific data should be verified against official USCG records.