 By that time, she had logged 10,000 days at sea and more than 1,000,000 nautical miles (1,850,000 km), and her projects had taken her as far south as the Amazon River delta in Brazil and as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts.Department of Commerce Gold Medal 1999

In a ceremony in 1999 in Washington, D.C., "Oregon II" was awarded the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for "public service or heroism" for her lifesaving efforts off Florida on 28 February 1999.The program for the ceremony cited her achievement as follows