Coast Guard Cutter Resolute Returns Home From 60-Day Deployment

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Resolute (WMEC-620) returned home on May 19 following a 60-day patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release.

Upon getting underway, Resolute patrolled south to the Panama Canal, transiting the 51-mile canal and passing through three separate locks over the course of 10 hours to reach the Gulf of Panama and the Pacific Ocean. After reaching the Pacific, Resolute transitioned to conducting law-enforcement operations in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force South counter-drug mission under the tactical command of the 11th Coast Guard District.

Resolute embarked an aviation detachment from the Coast Guard helicopter interdiction tactical squadron to assist with counter-drug missions. With the aid of the aviation detachment, Resolute interdicted seven suspected drug-smuggling vessels, seizing or disrupting over 4,000 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated $129 million in street value. Additionally, Resolute detained 23 suspected narcotics traffickers and ensured they received proper care and proper disposition to various agencies.

Resolute’s cases ranged from high-speed interdictions of go-fast vessels to fishing vessels concealing contraband in hidden compartments. Many of these cases lasted more than 20 consecutive hours and some required detailed operational planning and partnership with additional assets, including Canadian navy and Central American coast guard assets.

This patrol was one of Resolute’s most successful counterdrug patrols in recent years. Resolute disrupted transnational criminal organizations through the interdiction and apprehension of seven separate vessels, ensuring more than $130 million of illegal narcotics were seized prior to making it to the United States.

Resolute is a 210-foot Reliance class cutter and has a crew of 78. The cutter was commissioned in 1966 and has been homeported in San Francisco, California, Astoria, Oregon, and now St. Petersburg. Resolute has a decorated past, including patrols in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, participating in the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the search-and-rescue efforts for the El Faro. The ship’s recent patrols have focused on law-enforcement missions of drug-and-migrant interdiction.