ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Coast Guard is ready for expanded activity in Arctic waters, including petroleum exploration, Commandant Robert Papp told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Monday, even though the nearest agency base is more than 750 miles southeast of the Bering Strait, on Kodiak Island.

“For right now, we are well prepared, because like we always do traditionally, we have multi-mission assets that we can deploy, that are very capable, and that are sufficient for the level of human activity that’s going on this summer and perhaps for the next three or four summers,” Papp told a U.S. Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

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