MIAMI — The Coast Guard interdicted 13 migrants and one suspected smuggler on Sept. 25 miles east of Miami, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

The Coast Guard Cutter William Trump crew detected a westbound 21-foot cabin cruiser about 25 miles east of Miami heading towards southeast Florida. Upon detection, the cabin cruiser crew reversed their course to go east toward the Bahamas. William Trump’s crew stopped the vessel and discovered six Jamaican migrants, six Haitian migrants, one Guyanese migrant and the suspected smuggler, a Bahamian national, aboard. 

The crew of a Coast Guard Station Miami Beach 45-foot response boat-medium transferred the 11 migrants and the suspected smuggler ashore to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for further investigation and the Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvell crew transferred only two of the Haitian migrants to the Bahamian Immigration Department. 

“The Coast Guard continues to maintain a focused and coordinated effort with multiple agency assets to interdict any attempt to dangerously and unlawfully immigrate by sea to the United States,” said Lt. Cmdr. Mark Cobb, Coast Guard Sector Miami chief of enforcement. “These illegal migrant smuggling ventures are extremely dangerous, especially during the hurricane season, and place families in danger of being lost at sea.” 

HONOLULU — The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned the newest Hawaii-based 154-foot fast response cutter (FRC) in Honolulu on Sept. 26, according to a Coast Guard 14th District release. 

“There is no greater reflection of the commandant’s strategic vision and commitment than the fact that as we commission the William Hart today, it will be the fifth Coast Guard cutter commissioned in the last two years here at Base Honolulu that will operate in the heart of Oceania,” said Rear Adm. Kevin Lunday, commander of the 14th District. 

“There is no question that by our actions and not our words alone, the Coast Guard is here and committed along with the rest of the United States in the Pacific.”  

The Coast Guard Cutter William Hart (WPC 1134) is the third Sentinel-Class FRC to be homeported at Coast Guard Base Honolulu. While these ships’ crews call Honolulu home, they will operate throughout the 14th Coast Guard District, which covers more than 14 million square miles of land and sea, with units in Hawaii, American Samoa, Saipan, Guam, Singapore and Japan. 

The FRCs are some of the newest Coast Guard vessels to come online, replacing the aging Island-Class patrol boat fleet. The FRCs represent the Coast Guard’s commitment to modernizing service assets to address the increasingly complex global maritime transportation system. 

William Hart “is a remarkable ship with increased seakeeping, endurance, range, combat capability, telecommunications, everything about this is a game-changer for the Coast Guard,” Lunday said. 

FRCs feature advanced systems as well as over-the-horizon response boat deployment capability and improved habitability for the crew. The ships can accommodate a team of 24, reach speeds of 28 knots with a range of 2,500 nautical miles and patrol up to five days. 

Recently, FRCs already stationed in Honolulu participated in longer over-the-horizon voyages to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Samoa, displaying the potential of these cutters and their importance to the Coast Guard’s overall Pacific strategy and regional partnerships. 

The crew took delivery of the William Hart, which was built by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana, in Key West, Florida, and arrived in Honolulu on Aug. 17. Three more FRCs are scheduled to be homeported in Guam, increasing the 14th Coast Guard District’s total number of the cutters to six. Servicewide, the Coast Guard is acquiring 56 FRCs to replace the 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. 

William C. Hart, the cutter’s namesake, was a Gold Lifesaving Medal recipient who rescued a crewmember of the tug Thomas Tracy. 

In November 1926, Hart dove into the water in a 70-mph gale off Absecon, New Jersey, to save the mariner, who went overboard in the storm. Throughout the 1930s, Hart served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before returning to the Coast Guard in 1939, advancing to the rank of chief petty officer and serving as a boatswain’s mate.

When the United States entered World War II, he was commissioned as a lieutenant junior grade and saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. He served as commanding officer and executive officer for several ships before retiring from the Coast Guard as a lieutenant commander in 1950.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Coast Guard Cutter Valiant crew intercepted a drug-laden semi-submersible in the eastern Pacific, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release.  

While on routine patrol in the eastern Pacific, Valiant’s crew interdicted a self-propelled semi-submersible in international waters carrying about 12,000 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $165 million, and apprehended four suspected drug smugglers. 

The semi-submersible was originally detected and monitored by maritime patrol aircraft, and the Valiant crew was diverted by Joint Interagency Task Force South to interdict the semi-submersible, arriving after sunset. 

The Valiant crew launched two small boats with boarding teams made up of Valiant crew and two members of the Coast Guard Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team, successfully interdicting the semi-submersible in the early morning hours. They then led and conducted a full law enforcement boarding with the assistance of Colombian naval assets that arrived on scene shortly after. 

About 1,100 pounds of cocaine were recovered and offloaded to the Valiant during the operations. The remaining cocaine on the semi-submersible could not be safely extracted due to stability concerns of the vessel. 

According to Valiant’s commanding officer, the interdiction coincided with a time-honored mariner’s milestone and tradition of crossing the equator, which made both events even more meaningful part of the ship’s patrol. 

“There are no words to describe the feeling Valiant crew is experiencing right now,” said Cmdr. Matthew Waldron, Valiant’s commanding officer. “In a 24-hour period, the crew both crossed the equator and intercepted a drug-laden self-propelled semi-submersible vessel. Each in and of themselves is momentous events in any cutterman’s career. Taken together, however, it is truly remarkably unprecedented This interdiction was an all-hands-on-deck evolution, and each crew member performed above and beyond the call of duty.”

NORFOLK, Va. — USNS Hershel “Woody” Williams (T-ESB 4) has finished a three-day voyage in the Chesapeake Bay to test an anti-mine system, the public affairs offices of the program executive officers for ships and unmanned and small combatants said in a release.  

The expeditionary sea base (ESB) ship used the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Mission Package portable control station to maneuver the MCM equipment and the launch and recovery equipment as well as to test the command and control of unmanned vehicles. 

The demonstration proved ESB class ships’ ability to serve as an MCM-capable platform to embark 12 20-foot equivalent units, vehicles and the support equipment required to operate, launch and recover one full MCM mission package, including the buried mine hunting and unmanned sweeping mission modules, with flexible ship modifications. 

“Considering the contested environments [that] our ships sail in, counter-mine capabilities are very important because we have to be able to keep the enemy at bay,” said Capt. David Gray, the Hershel “Woody” Williams’ officer in charge. 

“Mines of today are very inexpensive to make,” Gray added. “Our adversaries can produce mines for a few hundred dollars and inflict a tremendous loss of life while causing millions of dollars of damage. So, we need the assets out there to detect and destroy these threats ahead of time and keep the world’s shipping lanes open.” 

Representatives from Program Executive Office for Ships (PEO Ships) and Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) had overall responsibility for the planning and execution of the integration event, with support from the Naval Sea Systems Command’s Engineering Directorate, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City and Carderock Combatant Craft Divisions, and Mine Countermeasures Detachment 22. Personnel from Military Sealift Command (MSC) and ship’s force conducted ship operations, navigation and maintenance of the ship systems during the demonstration.  

“This demonstration highlighted the inherent modularity of the Mine Countermeasure Mission Package,” said Capt. Godfrey Weekes, Littoral Combat Ships Mission Modules Program Manager, PEO USC. “The ability to deploy the MCM capability from this ship is a true force multiplier.” 

Initial assessments showed positive results and will help inform the feasibility of integration on ESB as well as other vessels of opportunity. This integration demonstration represents the potential to provide increased agility to our operational forces as they respond to the growing complexity of sea-mines while shifting to a broad-spectrum cross-domain, expeditionary approach. 

With a large flight deck, as well as fuel and equipment storage, repair spaces, magazines and mission spaces, the ESB platform continues to demonstrate tremendous adaptability. 

“This successful demonstration shows the versatility of the ESB platform to bring capability to the fleet through expanded expeditionary warfare mission sets,” said Capt. Scot Searles, Strategic and Theater Sealift program manager, PEO Ships. “Our teams worked collaboratively to develop and implement innovative designs that expand our operational advantage and provides tremendous benefit to our warfighters.”

MIAMI — The Coast Guard Cutter Seneca (WMEC-906) crew offloaded more than 12,000 pounds of cocaine Sept. 20 at Coast Guard Sector Miami, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

The drugs were interdicted in international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico and Central and South America, including contraband seized and recovered in more than five interdictions of suspected drug smuggling vessels by Coast Guard cutters: 

The cutter Seneca was responsible for two cases, seizing about 2,800 pounds of cocaine. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma (WMEC-908) was responsible for three interdictions, seizing about 2,500 pounds of cocaine. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL-757) was responsible for two cases, seizing approximately 5,700 pounds of cocaine. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Valiant (WMEC-621) was responsible for one case, seizing about 1,000 pounds of cocaine. 

“These down-range counter-drug operations are a vital component to the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security’s mission and our national security. These operations enable us to extend our maritime borders, weaken the economic engine of Transnational Criminal Organizations, contribute to enhancing stability and security across our partner nations within Central America, and they combat the drug epidemic within our local communities,” said Cmdr. John Christensen, commanding officer of the cutter Seneca. 

“I am exceptionally proud of this crew. Over the course of the last three months they rose above the challenges of conducting operations at sea, persevered through many personal sacrifices and showed an unwavering dedication to serving our nation.” 

The cutter Seneca’s crew along with those of the other ships conducted operations targeting transnational criminal organizations in conjunction with Joint Interagency Task Force-South, Department of Defense, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Justice, and several other Coast Guard aircraft. The cutter Seneca’s presence and efforts are critical to disrupting and dismantling the transnational criminal organizations that attempt to smuggle these drugs through the ocean and into Central and North America. 

The cutter Seneca is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Boston. The cutter Tahoma is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Kittery, Maine. The cutter Midgett is a 418-foot national security cutter homeported in Honolulu. The cutter Valiant is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Jacksonville, Florida.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Coast Guard is continuing rescue-and-recovery operations in the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. 

As of 9 a.m. on Sept. 8, Coast Guard forces had rescued 308 people in the Bahamas, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

The Coast Guard has five MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters conducting missions in the area, including search and rescue, logistics and for assessments. The helicopters are staged out of Andros Island, site of the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, where the U.S. Navy stages helicopters for antisubmarine training such as torpedo drops.  

The Coast Guard also has five cutters providing support in the disaster recovery operations.  

Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, also are participating in the relief efforts under the auspices of U.S. Northern Command. 

The 7th District said that all ports have been re-opened.

SEATTLE —
The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mellon (WHEC 717), including two Canadian
fishery officers, returned to their homeport of Seattle on Sept. 2 after an
80-day patrol detecting and deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a release.

IUU
fishing deprives the international economy of billions of dollars and
undermines the livelihoods of legitimate fish harvesters around the world. It
impacts food security, affecting millions of people, including many vulnerable
coastal communities. Combatting global IUU fishing through international
partnerships is a priority for Canada and the United States.

“IUU
fishing is one of the greatest threats to the ocean’s fish stocks,” said Capt.
Jonathan Musman, Mellon’s commanding officer. “It was an honor to be on the
front lines of enforcement efforts of the distant waters fishing fleets.”

The
fisheries patrol was performed under the auspices of the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission. During
the patrol, Coast Guard and Canadian fishery officers boarded 45 vessels
flagged in Japan, Russia, South Korea, China, Chinese Taipei and Panama, and
they encountered violations ranging from improper gear to intentionally fishing
for sharks without a license. Boarding officers also found evidence of illegal
shark finning. Altogether, boarding teams detected 68 potential violations.

“Canada is
serious about ending illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” said Jonathan
Wilkinson, minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian coast guard. “We are
working with our U.S. partners to achieve this goal. By preventing fish and
seafood products derived from IUU fishing from entering our ports, we will not
only help level the playing field for Canadian harvesters and Canadian
businesses involved in the fish and seafood trade: we are also sending a very
strong message that Canada’s ports have zero tolerance for illegally caught
fish.”

This is
the second joint operation between the U.S. Coast Guard and Fisheries and
Oceans, Canada’s Conservation and Protection program, this year. Along with the
two fishery officers aboard the Mellon, Canada also provided fishery officers
aboard a Dash-8 maritime surveillance aircraft, operated by PAL Aerospace. The
aircrew performed multiple missions over the North Pacific and Bering Sea using
state-of-the-art radars and maritime surveillance tools. Canada shared the data
from these flights with U.S. Coast Guard counterparts to support the Mellon’s
patrol mission.

The ship
also embarked two different helicopter crews from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station
North Bend, who provided 63 flight hours that directly assisted with
enforcement efforts.

Mellon’s
crew members had several port calls in Yokosuka, Japan, near Tokyo, during the
almost three-month long patrol, which covered nearly 19,000 nautical miles.

The USCG Mellon is a
378-foot high endurance cutter, one of two homeported in Seattle. The ship was
built in 1966 and was designed to perform each of the Coast Guard’s missions,
including search and rescue, national defense, law enforcement, and
environmental protection.

SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez (WPC-1114) repatriated
12 migrants to the Dominican Republic Navy patrol boat Proción (GC-103) Sept. 1
near Samaná, Dominican Republic, following the interdiction of an illegal
migrant voyage in Mona Passage waters near Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard 7th
District said in a release.

The
interdiction is the result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified
Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group
(CBIG).

Coast
Guard watchstanders at the Sector San Juan Command Center received a report at
5:30 p.m. Aug. 31 from the aircrew of a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144
Ocean Sentry aircraft on a routine patrol of the Mona Passage. The aircrew
reported sighting what appeared to be an illegal migrant vessel transiting
eastbound, about 51 nautical miles north of Mona Island, Puerto Rico.

Coast
Guard watchstanders diverted the cutter Heriberto Hernandez to the scene.  Once on scene, the cutter’s crew stopped the
18-foot makeshift boat and safely embarked, for safety of life at sea concerns,
the nine men and three women who were aboard. The interdicted migrants claimed
to be of Dominican nationality.

“I’m proud
of all our Coast Guard crews who quickly returned in full force to protect the
coasts and our citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following
the passing of Hurricane Dorian through the Eastern Caribbean,” said Capt. Eric
King, commander of Sector San Juan. “Their efforts prevented this illegal
migrant voyage from reaching our shores and saving 12 lives from a highly
dangerous situation, since migrant voyages often take place aboard grossly
overloaded and unseaworthy vessels with little or on no lifesaving equipment
onboard.”

Once
aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and
basic medical attention.

The Caribbean Border Interagency Group unifies efforts between U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action.

These agencies share a common goal of securing the maritime border of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands against illegal migrant and drug smuggling threats. The Heriberto Hernandez is a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

SAN PEDRO,
Calif. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward (WPC-1130) returned Aug.
29 from their first patrol of the drug transit zones of the eastern Pacific
Ocean with about 2,800 pounds of seized cocaine, the Coast Guard 11th District
said in a release.

The
cocaine, worth an estimated $38.5 million, was seized by the crews of the
Robert Ward and another Coast Guard cutter patrolling the region. An additional
estimated 3,000 pounds of cocaine, seized by the crew of the Robert Ward in
mid-July in the cutter’s first-ever drug bust, was transferred to the Coast
Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623) and brought ashore in San Diego last month as
part of a 13-ton bulk offload.

“The
Cutter Robert Ward and three other newly commissioned cutters based in San
Pedro are strengthening the Coast Guard’s safety, security and
counter-smuggling efforts along our coast and in the shipping zones off Central
and South America,” said Rear Adm. Peter W. Gautier, the 11th District’s commander.
“I’m proud of the Ward’s crew and applaud their actions to disrupt the cartels
that profit from crime, addiction and ruin American lives.”

The Robert
Ward, commissioned in March, is one of four newly commissioned fast-response cutters
(FRCs) homeported in San Pedro as part of the Coast Guard’s efforts to
strengthen forces in the region and increase safety, security and emergency
response capabilities. 

“This was
a fantastic patrol,” said Lt. Benjamin Davne, Robert Ward’s commanding officer.
“We helped stem the flow of illegal drugs by seizing and disrupting more than
three tons of cocaine. We saved lives by keeping these drugs off the streets.
Our crew is in friendly competition with other fast-response cutter crews
stationed in other parts of the nation and on our first patrol we are already
credited with the second largest cocaine seizure and disruption rate for any
Coast Guard ship in our class.”

The fight
against drug cartels in the eastern Pacific requires unity of effort in all
phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions
by U.S. Attorneys in districts across the nation.

The Coast
Guard increased U.S. and allied presence in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean
Basin, which are known drug transit zones off Central and South America, as
part of its Western Hemisphere Strategy.

During at-sea
interdictions, a suspect vessel is detected and monitored by allied, military
or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South
based in Key West, Florida. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling
operations in the eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the 11th
Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda.

HONOLULU —
The U.S Coast Guard’s two newest national security cutters were commissioned
Aug. 24 during a ceremony presided over by Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz, the
Coast Guard Pacific area said in a release. 

The Coast
Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756) and the Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL 757)
were “brought to life” at the rare dual-commissioning ceremony in Honolulu,
where the two cutters homeport. Three fast-response cutters also homeport
there. Kimball and Midgett are the seventh and eighth Legend-class national
security cutters in the fleet.

“These
national security cutters will continue our 150 years of partnership and
commitment to the Pacific region — since September 1849, when Revenue Cutter
Lawrence sailed into Honolulu Harbor escorted by Native Hawaiians in outrigger
canoes,” Schultz said. “In today’s complex geostrategic environment with rising
great power competition, the importance and demand for a strong Coast Guard
presence in the Pacific has never been greater.”

Advanced
command-and-control capabilities and a combination of range, speed and ability
to operate in extreme weather enable these ships to confront national security
threats, strengthen maritime governance, support economic prosperity and
promote individual sovereignty.

From the
Bering Sea and the Arctic to patrolling known drug trafficking zones off
Central and South America to working to strengthen the capabilities of our
partners across the Indo-Pacific, national security cutters deploy globally to
conduct essential Coast Guard missions.

Known as the
Legend-class, national security cutters can execute the most challenging
national security missions, including support to U.S. combatant commanders.
They are 418 feet in length, 54 feet in beam and 4,600 long tons in
displacement. They have a top speed of more than 28 knots, a range of 12,000
nautical miles, an endurance of up to 90 days and can hold a crew of up to 150.
These new cutters are replacing the high-endurance Hamilton-class cutters (378
feet) that have been in service since the 1960s.

The Midgett’s
transit to Hawaii was punctuated by two interdictions of suspected low-profile
go-fast vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the first July 25 and a second
July 31. The boardings resulted in a combined seizure of more than 6,700 pounds
of cocaine, estimated to be worth over $89 million.

National
security cutters are responsible for 40% of the 460,000 pounds of cocaine
interdicted by the Coast Guard in the fiscal year 2018. NSC crews have
interdicted more than 92,000 pounds of cocaine to date in the fiscal year 2019.

Midgett is
named to honor all members of the Midgett family who served in the Coast Guard
and its predecessor services. At least 10 members of the family earned high
honors for their heroic lifesaving efforts. Among them, the Coast Guard awarded
various family members seven gold lifesaving medals, the service’s highest
award for saving a life, and three silver lifesaving medals.

The Kimball is the third ship to bear that name, in honor of Sumner Kimball, who served as superintendent of the Revenue Marine and as general superintendent of the Life-Saving Service from 1878 until the two organizations merged in 1915 to become the modern-day U.S. Coast Guard.

“As you take to the seas, you will write the next chapters of the Kimball and Midgett legacies,” Schultz said, addressing the commands and crews of the two cutters on Aug. 24. “I charge you with carrying out the operations of these ships in such a manner as to be worthy of the traditions of self-sacrifice, inspirational leadership and unwavering dedication to duty — traits exemplified by these cutters’ distinguished and storied namesakes.”