In J.S. Coast Guard's cutter Alder will leave Duluth for the last time after 16 years of having the city as its homeport. The Alder will eventually head to San Francisco as its home station, but this summer it and its crew will transit across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway to the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland. In Baltimore, Alder will undergo a yearlong maintenance period before heading to San Francisco. But before leaving Duluth, the Alder will be part of a change of command ceremony at 10 a.m. July 2 at the Coast Guard Station in Duluth. The current commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Justin M. Erdman, will be relieved by Lt. Cmdr. Joel R. Wright, who assumes command following a tour of duty as the executive officer onboard the Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. Completing a highly successful assignment as Alder’s sixth commanding officer, Justin will retire after 28 years of service in the Coast Guard. According to the U.S. Coast Guard's announcement today, Alder’s current Duluth-based crew will return to the Twin Ports to await the completion of maintenance on the Coast Guard Cutter Spar, another 225-foot buoy tender that will take up residence in Duluth in spring of 2022. It was originally homeported in Kodiak, Alaska, after its commissioning in August 2001. The Spar maintained aids to navigation along the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea until the fall of 2020, when it departed for the Coast Guard Yard for maintenance. Upon arriving in Duluth, Spar will continue the missions of maintaining aids to navigation, domestic icebreaking, search and rescue, and law enforcement.