The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Maple follows the crew of Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker Terry Fox through the icy waters of Franklin Strait, in Nunavut Canada, August 11, 2017. The Canadian Coast Guard assisted Maple's crew by breaking and helping navigate through ice during several days of Maple's 2017 Northwest Passage transit. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn.

Allies in the Arctic

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Maple arrived to Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland, Tuesday, after a journey of more than 7,000 miles through the Arctic from Sitka, Alaska.

Cutter Maple spent 27 days above the Arctic Circle, first navigating Alaskan waters then through the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean. Coincidently, the summer of 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the Coast Guard’s first Northwest Passage expedition that departed Seattle, Washington, July 1, 1957.