A recent joint operation between NOAA Ship Fairweather and U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Cypress identified a navigation channel in Bechevin Bay, Alaska. This channel is a critical connection between the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, and is available just in time for the June 1st opening of the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishing season.
Fairweather’s specialized survey capabilities and operational expertise, combined with Cypress’ local knowledge of the waterway enabled the interagency team to quickly and efficiently map the channel and determine best placement of new channel markers.
Resetting critical navigational markers
The Bering Sea’s winter ice extent hit a near record in late March, reaching as far south as False Pass and completely filling nearby Bechevin Bay. The ice destroyed nearly all previous navigation aids that marked the channel and left behind dangerous submerged obstructions across the shallow waterway. In May, the Coast Guard reported that 28 of the 29 buoys marking Bechevin Bay were missing.
Working in close partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey and NOAA Ship Fairweather redirected scheduled missions to respond and assist Coast Guard Cutter Cypress in reopening this critical waterway. The Fairweather was tasked with finding a navigable channel and searching for any sunken buoys and other possible hazards the Cypress might encounter while placing new buoys to guide maritime traffic navigating the channel. NOAA Ship Fairweather’s experienced hydrographic survey launch crews, provided custom charting products in near real-time.
Within hours of receiving these survey products, including high resolution bathymetric images showing locations of several sunken buoys and channel boundaries, the Cypress crew set 14 new buoys, providing vessels transiting Bechevin Bay with increased certainty of safe navigation. Over the next few weeks, the Cypress will continue to use NOAA Ship Fairweather survey data to re-establish the remaining northern half of the channel for safe navigation.
Communities depend on safe navigation
Just east of Unimak Island, Bechevin Bay is the easternmost passage between the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, and is frequently used by the communities of the Alaskan Peninsula and Bristol Bay. By transiting from Kodiak to Bristol Bay through Isanotski Strait – also referred to as False Pass–and heading north through Bechevin Bay, a vessel may save up to 160 nautical miles and 20 hours of sailing time while remaining more protected.
Navigating Isanotski Strait and Bechevin Bay, however, is no easy feat. Mariners choosing to take this shorter route must strategically time their passages around the tides to avoid heavy currents pushing through the channel. In Bechevin Bay, vessels have to carefully navigate through the 29 buoys marking a narrow meandering channel. One wrong turn and a vessel can quickly find itself in less than 14 feet of water, risking grounding.
By restoring the channel markers, the communities and mariners can continue to rely on accurate aids to navigation for safety, commerce and daily needs.
Mapping Alaska and Arctic waters
Fairweather started its 2026 season working in Southeast Alaska – specifically, in the waterways approaching Ketchikan, and will continue operations around St. Matthew Island and in the Arctic this summer. Fairweather primarily supports the NOAA Office of Coast Survey's mission to produce the nation’s nautical charts, develop other navigation products, services, and data-driven models, and reopen ports and waterways following disasters.