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Working on the USCGC Midgett 's helicopter landing deck was an important job. For the All-Star Cleaning & Preser vation crew, that job included prepping and recoating the weathered steel surface. Feature 60 MARCH 2017 COATINGSPROMAG.COM BY STEPHANIE MARIE CHIZIK PHOTOS COURTESY ALL-STAR CLEANING & PRESERVATION, INC. T he United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Midgett may be considered many things, but small is probably not one of them. At 378 feet (115.2 m) from bow to stern, it is considered one of twelve High Endurance Cutters, which are some of the largest cutters built for the Coast Guard. e USCGC Midgett's 24 officers and 160 enlisted crew members work to achieve various missions, including search and rescue, homeland security, and maritime law enforcement. But it was the mission of another crew that may call for an achievement medal. It was up to the A ll-Star Cleaning & Preservation crew out of Bremerton, Washington, to get the ship back in tip-top shape. at included renewing the helicopter landing, gun deck, and forecastle deck. In total, the pier-side project covered 6,000 square feet (557.4 m²) of steel, included 12 teammates, and lasted 40 days. For the helicopter pad area, 2,912 square feet (270.5 m²) of the total, the 3- to 7-person (depending on the task) topside crew's mission was clear: Recoat the deck complete with non-skid, water ways, and visual landing aid (VLA) markings. Splash Zone T he USCGC Midgett patrols areas such as the Ber ing Sea, so it shou ld be no sur pr ise that the f irst item on the A l l-Star punch list was to swab the deck. Accord ing to Qua lit y Control Super v isor Sau l Era zo, the crew ad hered to Societ y for Protective Coatings (SSPC) Sur face Preparation (SP) 1: Solvent C leaning. Wear ing rain gear and steel-toed r ubber boots, four crew members washed the sur face and col lected the water. "We cannot just flush it down into the ship," Erazo explained of the water spent from the cleaning process. Instead, they sealed all of the drains before pressure washing. "We set up a pneumatic pump to be able to take the water into a holding tank," he explained. From there, a third-party company picked up the water and disposed of it properly. Non-Skid System Gets Ship in Shape MARINE STEEL EPOXY