HONOLULU —
The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an aids-to-navigation and waterways assessment
in the Federated States of Micronesia in support of improved maritime safety
and defense readiness in May, the Coast Guard 14th District said in a release.

The U.S.
Coast Guard Cutter Sequoia, a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender homeported in Guam,
completed surveys in Yap, Chuuk and Phonpei. While in Yap, the Sequoia’s crew
hosted local officials and U.S. Ambassador Robert Riley. In Pohnpei, the
Sequoia crew hosted tours for the public.

The ports
and waterways of Micronesia are essential to maritime commerce and U.S. defense
readiness. A large number of commercial, military and private vessels use these
routes.

“The
U.S. Coast Guard, in a joint effort with U.S. Embassy Phonpei, U.S. Pacific
Fleet, the Department of the Interior, and the Federated States of Micronesia,
is working to improve the readiness and safety of maritime navigation
systems,” said Rear Adm. Kevin Lunday, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s
14th District. “Our work together is essential to strengthening the U.S.
relationship with the Federated States of Micronesia, improving regional
maritime governance, and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Improved
navigation systems promote maritime governance in the South Pacific, essential
for economic prosperity and a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The Federated States of
Micronesia, with a population of 105,000 people and more than 600 islands, is made
up of four states: Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk and Yap.

ECUADOR — The
crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton (WMSL-753) interdicted 22 Ecuadorian
nationals last week in possession of illegal firearms in the eastern Pacific
Ocean and delivered them to Ecuadorian authorities, the Coast Guard 7th
District said in a release.

A Hamilton
law-enforcement team boarded the Ecuadorian long-line fishing vessel, Erika
Fernanda, in a known smuggling area during a patrol.

Multiple
violations and two illegal automatic weapons were located onboard. The crew of
the Erika Fernanda and evidence collected was transferred to the Ecuadorian
Coast Guard near the Port of Manta.

“This case
highlights the value and benefits of the close partnerships the U.S. Coast
Guard has with our allies in Central and South America.” said Capt. Mark
Gordon, commanding officer of the Hamilton.

“The ability
to work with our counterpart foreign agencies is critical to combatting common
challenges such as illegal narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and illegal
and unreported fishing. The success of this case is a result of years of robust
collaboration between the State Department, DHS, Ecuador and the U.S. Coast
Guard.”

Hamilton is deployed
on a counter-narcotics patrol in the eastern Pacific. The cutter is one of two
418-foot national security cutters homeported in Charleston, South Carolina.

MIAMI — The
Coast Guard interdicted 50 migrants May 21 about 46 miles north of Cap-Haïtien,
Haiti, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release.

At about 5:35
p.m. May 21, the Coast Guard Robert Yered (WPC-1104) crew detected an
overloaded 30-foot panga vessel and launched a small-boat crew to investigate.
The crew then boarded the vessel and discovered 36 Haitian males and 14 Haitian
females.

The Robert
Yered crew safely embarked the migrants and sank the vessel to prevent a hazard
to navigation. The Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant (WMEC-617) crew transferred the
50 Haitian migrants back to their country of origin.

“Bottom
line is these voyages put lives at unnecessary risk,” said Capt. Jason
Ryan, Coast Guard 7th District chief of enforcement. “These voyages often
involve ill-advised agreements with smugglers on poorly equipped, makeshift
vessels that are prone to capsizing, leading to loss of life.”

Approximately
2,474 Haitian migrants have attempted to illegally enter the U.S. via the
maritime environment since May 20 in fiscal year 2019 compared to 2,727 Haitian
migrants in fiscal year 2018. These numbers represent the total number of
at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the
Caribbean and Atlantic.

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

The Robert Yered is a
154-foot Sentinel-class cutter homeported in Miami, Florida. The Vigilant is a
210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Port Canaveral, Florida.

SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard repatriated 66 migrants on May 23 to a Dominican navy
vessel in waters off the Dominican Republic following the interdiction of three
illegal migrant vessels in the Mona Passage earlier that week, the Coast Guard
7th District said in a release.

Two of the
interdicted migrants, one Haitian and a Dominican man, remain in federal
custody facing possible prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
District of Puerto Rico on potential charges of attempted illegal re-entry into
a U.S. territory.

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

“I’m
extremely proud of my crew and the collaboration with our Caribbean Border
Interagency Group partners,” said Cmdr. Michael A. Nalli, commanding officer of
the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba (WMEC-907).

“Our
collective efforts led to the successful interdiction of three grossly
overloaded, unseaworthy vessels and the safe recovery of all 68 migrants. Crossing
the Mona Passage in these makeshift vessels is an extremely dangerous voyage,
where the migrants risk losing their lives or the life of a loved one.”

While on a
routine patrol in the Mona Passage on May 21, crews of Customs and Border
Protection DHC-8 maritime patrol aircraft detected the two migrant vessels
transiting without navigational lights. The first boat was located 43 nautical
miles north of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, while the second was detected about 15
nautical miles northwest of Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico.

Coast Guard watchstanders
in Sector San Juan diverted cutter Escanaba to interdict the suspect vessels.
Shortly thereafter, and with the cutter boat’s assistance, the Escanaba
interdicted a 20-foot makeshift boat with 19 adult migrants onboard. The
Escanaba crew embarked 14 men and five women who claimed Dominican nationality.

Following the
first interdiction, the Escanaba proceeded to intercept the second migrant
vessel. Once on scene, the Escanaba crew and a CBP Caribbean Air and Marine
interceptor surface unit stopped a 25-foot makeshift boat with 21 adult
migrants onboard. The Escanaba crew embarked 18 men and three women of
Dominican nationality.

A third
migrant vessel was detected the night of May 21 by the crew of a CBP DHC-8
maritime patrol aircraft about 20 nautical miles northwest of Aguadilla. Escanaba’s
crew interdicted the 30-foot makeshift boat and safely embarked 28 adult
migrants, 21 men and seven women of Dominican nationality as well as a Haitian
man.

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

The Escanaba
transferred custody of the two migrants facing federal prosecution to the Coast
Guard Cutter Richard Dixon (WPB-1113) for further transfer to Ramey Sector
Border Patrol agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

KEY WEST,
Fla. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Thetis (WMEC-910) returned to their
homeport in Key West, Florida, on May 23 after a three-month U.S. Africa
Command patrol, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release.

The Thetis
crew concluded their patrol, in which they conducted multiple joint law-enforcement
exercises and operations with West African countries with U.S. Africa Command
and U.S. 6th Fleet to maintain and strengthen international partnerships and
maritime security.

“By
conducting joint maritime law-enforcement operations, we were able to establish
best practices providing the West African navies and coast guards with the
tools to enforce their laws and secure their maritime borders,” said Cmdr.
Randall Chong, commanding officer of the Thetis. “The U.S. Coast Guard’s
involvement in the African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership has had a
positive impact on the region, and I am proud of all the hard work my crew has
put into this mission.”

Thetis crew members
and U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team South worked to build,
strengthen and maintain relationships with the African nations of Cabo Verde,
Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, São Tomé and Príncipe, Togo and Benin. Together, they
conducted joint maritime safety, security and law enforcement training and
missions in support of Africa Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership 2019
operations.

While at sea,
the crew conducted joint fisheries and law-enforcement boardings with Nigerian navy
and Cabo Verde coast guard law-enforcement teams. The Thetis crew saved the
lives of two men who were lost at sea for three days and safely transferred
them to the Sierra Leone maritime authority. The crew also rescued two
loggerhead sea turtles that were entangled in fishing nets in the Gulf of
Guinea.

Thetis is the
first U.S. Coast Guard cutter to support U.S. 6th Fleet and deploy to U.S.
Africa Command since 2012.

U.S. 6th
Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts a full spectrum of joint and
naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, to
advance U.S. national interests, security and stability in Europe and Africa.

The Thetis is a multimission
270-foot medium-endurance cutter whose missions include illegal drug and
migrant interdiction as well as search and rescue. The Thetis patrols
throughout the Caribbean basin, eastern Pacific and Atlantic seaboard.

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.

MANILA,
Philippines — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) and vessels from
the Philippine coast guard conducted joint search-and-rescue exercises May 14 in
the South China Sea west of Manila, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a
release.

The Bertholf,
a 418-foot national security cutter based in Alameda, California, worked
together with the Philippine coast guard vessels Batangas and Kalanggaman on
small-boat search-and-rescue tactics to conduct the mock rescue of a person in
the water. The Bertholf is in the midst of a Western Pacific deployment under
the tactical control of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet.

In training
with and learning alongside partners in the Philippines on search and rescue,
maritime law enforcement and small-boat tactics, Bertholf’s crew enjoys the
benefits of the strong, often personal ties between the countries, the release
said.

The work also
strengthens one of the most enduring partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region,
between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines and supports both
countries’ commitment to a free and open Pacific, governed by international
maritime law that promotes peace, security and prosperity of all nations.

“Bertholf
completed an at-sea search-and-rescue exercise today with our counterparts from
the Philippine coast guard. This engagement proved an excellent opportunity to
compare techniques, maintain proficiency and build a friendly relationship
amongst professional mariners and coast guards,” said Capt. John J. Driscoll,
Bertholf’s commanding officer.

The crew of
Bertholf also will participate in other joint events with members of the
Philippine coast guard during the ship’s Manila port call. The events include a
series of engagements on operational subjects such as damage control and search
and rescue as well as sporting and social events. The activities are designed
to improve interoperability and strengthen the ties between the two countries.

“The U.S.
Coast Guard is proud to operate with our Pacific counterparts, and together we
are dedicated to enhancing our capabilities and strengthening maritime
governance and security while promoting individual sovereignty,” said Vice Adm.
Linda Fagan, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Pacific Area. “Today’s exercise
is a great opportunity to share our experiences and learn from our partners in
the Philippine coast guard.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Coast Guard has faced a challenging year — and going forward the sea service will continue to emphasize the importance of increasing resources in the Arctic, said Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said May 8 during Sea-Air-Space 2019 here.

The service released a new Arctic Strategic Outlook in
April, which updated the same report from six years ago that highlighted the
shortfalls the service faces in the ever-evolving region.

“We were trying to be honest with the report, … be bold
enough and frank and be candid enough with what the circumstances are,” Schultz
said.

The service has a full-time presence, District 17 in Juneau,
Alaska, but have never had a full-time base in the Arctic. Over the past decade-plus,
the Coast Guard has upped the rhetoric on the need to increase funding for
resources in the region. This is starting to come into fruition, as the Coast
Guard has begun to recapitalize its dated icebreaking fleet.

In April, the service awarded a $745 million design and
construction contract to Pascagoula, Mississippi-based VT Halter Marine Inc. to
begin building the next heavy icebreaker for the service. The Coast Guard now
only has one, Polar Star, that is more
than four decades old and suffering from increased mechanical issues and missed
time at sea due to it.

Schultz added that the new icebreakers will have unmanned
systems and a helicopter on them. The current fleet does not have either of
these capabilities.

The commandant said the lack of resources, such as
icebreakers able to operate in the Artic, keeps him up at night. But the new
heavy icebreaker is expected to be ready by fiscal 2024, at the latest, though Schultz
acknowledged there will be challenges in filling in the gap between that cutter
coming online and keeping Polar Star operating.

“We are working on how we bridge this gap,” he said.

The service also has plans to build six new icebreakers — three
heavy ones and three medium capability — over the next two decades.

Schultz said the Arctic is competitive economically as well
as for national security. As sea lanes there open for longer periods due to melting
sea ice from climate change, cruise ship activity has increased, and commercial
ships are able to traverse through the former icy waters more frequently.

“It’s an increasingly dynamic portion of the world. How do
we innovate and adapt to the region?” the commandant said.

Schultz noted that the conversation is expanding regarding
the Arctic. Congress is paying more attention, and the Defense Department conducted
extensive exercises there earlier this year.

“How do we speak with a unified voice up there?” he said.

Part of the new Arctic Strategic Outlook states the Coast
Guard will look to strengthen partnerships, address emerging demands in maritime
law enforcement there and advance and modernize the Arctic’s marine
transportation system.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Artificial intelligence in all its forms, from machine learning algorithms to unmanned systems, is a sure thing for the sea services and its partners, but there is still much to determine in terms of the technological and operational challenges it presents for warfighting.

In a panel discussion on May 8 at Sea-Air-Space, U.S. Coast
Guard Rear Adm. David Dermanelian, assistant commandant for C4IT and commander
of Coast Guard Cyber Command, framed the conversation as a relevant, real-world
issue for the sea services.

“This is not the art of the future. It’s happening today,” Dermanelian
said.

U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Christian Wortman, vice chief
of naval research, said the Corps has an expansive approach to AI and is
seeking to embed it into everything the service does, including machine
learning to make war more efficient and help make more informed decisions. But
he stressed that users “can’t look at this in isolation,” and the Marines also
need enhanced network capabilities and to use the cloud so algorithms can take
advantage of the data that is harvested.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Casey Morton, who was on day three of
his job as program executive officer of Unmanned and Small Combatants, said his
service is “firmly” moving in the direction of adding more unmanned elements to
its assets, from unmanned surface vehicles to unmanned underwater vehicles and
beyond.

“They are going to be a part of our team,” Morton said. “It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when and how fast and how can we get there.”

Right now, he believes the Navy is not yet at human-machine
teaming but is working toward that future where Sailors and machines work
closely together. He cautioned that there are still a lot of unanswered
questions about AI, like what infrastructure it will need, where it will be
based in the fleet, how it will be supported, if it will be forward-deployed
and other policy issues.

“We are at the early stages of this still,” Morton said. “There
are a lot of questions here that are still unanswered.”

The U.S. Maritime Administration’s Christopher Walher, who
focuses on the education programs of MARAD’s six state maritime academies, sees
AI as a pedagogical challenge, since sometimes subject matter experts are too
advanced to be excellent teachers, often skipping over critical points that, to
them, appear obvious.

He prefers a “crawl, walk, run” approach to the training
pipeline, where MARAD leverages a training process so AI can manage what it
excels at and humans can focus on their strengths, much like the current relationship
between smartphones and users.

Key for MARAD going forward will be working with other organizations, including a meeting the agency has next month with AI experts so they can share information, versus starting from ground zero on research and development.

“As we talk about crawl, walk, run in the Maritime
Administration, we are the little ship that could,” he said. “We don’t have a
lot of money for R&D.”

Steven Escaravage, senior vice president for the Strategic
Innovation Group at Booz Allen Hamilton, briefly went over his company’s 60
current programs that involve machine learning and robotics, including areas
like sensor data processing, electronic warfare, predictive maintenance and
optimized planning.

Escaravage said the field of AI in the last six to 12 months
has focused on taking what has been written about and researched in the lab and
tried to operationalize those concepts so they can be used in real-world
environments. He said while AI has suffered from being overhyped, there are
some rich capabilities for it today.

“Although today’s capabilities are probably over-extended
and somewhat brittle, what’s going to happen in a matter of months is going to
be real capability that changes pretty much everything we do.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Coast Guard’s maritime security response teams (MSRT) continue to evolve, as the service looks to make them more effective and expand their capabilities.

The mission of the teams — one is based in San Diego, California,
and another is in Chesapeake, Virginia — is tactical, as MSRT is a ready
assault force, whose members are trained in maritime security, law enforcement
boarding procedures, force protection and environmental hazards response within
a tactical law enforcement operation. The teams also combat chemical,
biological, radiological and nuclear threats posed to the United States.

Lt. Jake Tronaas, Direct Action 6 team leader, Maritime Security
Response Team West, said his team is working on a more robust working
relationship with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and other Department of Defense
agencies.

“In the last few years, our mission set has changed,” Tronaas
said.

Once focused primarily on issues related to San Diego, his team
now focuses on vast counter-terrorism responses and is responsible for an area
from Alaska to Australia.

Tronaas said his unit recently completed three weeks of training
in Alaska, in preparation for response potential incidents in the Arctic.

“We definitely need to work on being prepared to cover our
operational area,” he said during the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space exposition.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security agency team stays consistent
in terms of operations throughout the year, but sees a slight uptick in the
summer months, as more events, such as United Nations meetings along with presidential
and Coast Guard commandant missions, occur.

The team also recently transitioned to a maritime security
response team from the maritime safety and security team, allowing them to
focus on additional legacy anti-terrorism missions that predate the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. 

“This
is a consolidation and will make us and the Coast Guard more efficient,”
Tronaas said.