LOCKPORT, La. — Bollinger Shipyards, a privately held designer and builder of steel military and commercial vessels, submitted on June 11 its proposal to the United States Coast Guard to build Stage 2 of the Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program, the company said in a release.

If chosen, Bollinger would construct and deliver a total of 11 vessels to the U.S. Coast Guard over the next decade, helping sustain the Bollinger workforce through 2031. The initial OPCs are being built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group, although the program suffered a setback when Eastern’s Florida shipyard was damaged by Hurricane Michael in 2018.

“Bollinger is the right shipyard at the right time to build the Offshore Patrol Cutter program for the U.S. Coast Guard.” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger president and CEO. “Our long history building for the Coast Guard is unparalleled and has shown time and time again that Bollinger can successfully deliver the highest quality vessels on an aggressive production schedule.” 

Bollinger has been actively involved in every step of the U.S. Coast Guard’s OPC acquisition process, including execution of the Stage 1 Preliminary and Contract Design, where the company was included in the final three shipyards, as well as execution of the OPC Stage 2 industry study. This unique experience ensures Bollinger’s understanding of every detail and aspect of the program. 

Bordelon continued, “Bollinger has the existing capability and capacity using our proven serial production build strategy and an experienced management team and workforce. Our production approach is based on our established and mature processes and tools, which integrate design development, production, and lifecycle considerations. Our unique experience results in a reliable production schedule and cost so that we can deliver high-quality vessels on time and on budget.” 

Notably, in its current program for the U.S. Coast Guard, Bollinger has delivered Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter hulls 1139 through 1144 a total of 127 days ahead of the contract schedule, despite the incredible challenges of the COVID-19 global pandemic and a historic hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico impacting Louisiana’s coast. 

Bollinger has a long history building for the U.S. Coast Guard, delivering 170 vessels in the last three decades alone. This includes the Island Class (49 delivered), the Marine Protector Class (77 delivered), and now the Sentinel Class (44 of 64 delivered to date). 

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Coast Guard crews recently continued their efforts to document the historic shipwreck of the Coast Guard Cutter McCulloch June 3, after the service’s partnership with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel recently resulted in the ship being added to the National Register of Historic Places, the Coast Guard 11th District said in a June 13 release.  

The Coast Guard Cutter Blackfin crew transported members of Regional Dive Locker West and Maritime Safety and Security Team Los Angeles/Long Beach to the wreckage site where remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) were deployed to depths greater than 200 feet.  

Despite the challenging offshore conditions, Coast Guard ROV operators were able to survey the sunken cutter and surrounding area. These dive operations honor the Coast Guard’s heritage and provide valuable training opportunities to enhance mission readiness. 

The Coast Guard Cutter McCulloch, located near Point Conception, was lost in a collision with the passenger steamship SS Governor on June 13, 1917 and remains within waters of the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.  

Scott Price and Daniel Koski-Karell, Coast Guard historians, and Robert Schwemmer, a NOAA maritime archaeologist and chief scientist for the mission that led to the McCulloch’s discovery, worked together to draft and submit the National Register of Historic Places nomination.  

“McCulloch had a remarkable career as both a U.S. Revenue Cutter Service vessel and U.S. Coast Guard cutter,” said Koski-Karell. “Its participation in the Spanish-American War’s 1898 Battle of Manila Bay victory is memorialized by the trophy cannon the McCulloch brought to the U.S. that stands today in front of the Coast Guard Academy’s Hamilton Hall.”  

The McCulloch shipwreck was officially listed in the federal government’s National Register of Historic Places on April 22, meeting the criteria to be considered a site of “national significance.” 

“The listing to the National Register of Historic Places, as well as California’s Register of Historical Resources, demonstrates the spirit of cooperation between NOAA and the Coast Guard, enhances public awareness of McCulloch’s important role in America’s history, while honoring its crew,” said Schwemmer, the West Coast regional maritime heritage coordinator for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. 

In October 2016, a joint NOAA and Coast Guard training mission confirmed the location of the McCulloch’s final resting place. Working off the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary’s research vessel Shearwater, the multi-agency science team from NOAA, National Park Service, and Coast Guard Dive Lockers Alameda and San Diego, deployed a ROV to survey and characterize the shipwreck while Eleventh Coast Guard District cutters Halibut and Blacktip provided vessel support. 

“I’m pleased we are making progress to preserve this piece of U.S. and Coast Guard history, as well as honoring the service member lost because of this tragedy,” said Rear Adm. Brian Penoyer, the 11th Coast Guard District commander. “I look forward to our continued partnership with NOAA, because without these relationships and incredible teamwork, discoveries such as these would not be uncovered.”  

Listing the shipwreck site on the National Register of Historic Places provides a wealth of public research information and could unlock incentives to help preserve the shipwreck, including federal tax and grant benefits and easements.   

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) returned to their homeport Friday following a combined 105-day deployment to Alaska and their biannual shipboard training off the coast of San Diego, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a June 11 release. 

Stratton’s crew, along with an embarked MH-65 helicopter aircrew from Air Station Kodiak, patrolled the Bering Sea up to the Arctic’s ice edge. While deployed, they conducted two search and rescue missions preserving lives and protecting property from peril in the Bering Sea. 

The crews, aided with the support of the ship’s unmanned aircraft system, patrolled the region safeguarding Alaska’s multi-billion-dollar fishing industry by conducting 15 fisheries law enforcement boardings, ensuring compliance with maritime laws and regulations, and protecting the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone by patrolling the maritime boundary line to prevent the illegal harvesting of U.S. fish stocks. 

In addition to conducting multiple operations while deployed, the crew of the Stratton also collected vital information that will help the Coast Guard shape future deployments, uphold U.S. sovereignty and exercise leadership through effective presence in the Arctic. 

Following their Alaskan patrol, Stratton hosted a change of command ceremony while anchored in the San Francisco Bay. Capt. Stephen Adler relieved Capt. Bob Little as Stratton’s commanding officer during the at-sea ceremony. 

Before returning home, Stratton completed a biannual shipboard training cycle off the coast of San Diego. Over the course of 17 training days, Stratton’s crew demonstrated their knowledge and skills by completing nearly 200 drills in the areas of damage control, navigation, seamanship, naval warfare, communications, medical response, engineering casualties, and force protection. The crew’s efforts resulted in an average drill score of 97%, demonstrating excellence in all warfare areas. 

“I’m extremely proud of this crew and all they have accomplished,” said Adler. “There is a new wave of capabilities designed to match the growing importance of U.S. presence in the Arctic. The crew pressed into this growing mission space with incredible resolve. Harsh Arctic conditions and the ongoing global pandemic regularly tested our mettle, but this crew delivered.”  

Stratton’s crew also relieved the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro (WHEC 724), the Coast Guard’s last 378-foot high endurance cutter, as they made their final patrol prior to being decommissioned April 24, 2021. 

The Stratton is one of four 418-foot national security cutters homeported in Alameda. National security cutters are capable of extended, worldwide deployment in support of homeland security and defense missions and routinely conduct operations from South America to the Arctic. National security cutter’s combination of range, speed, and ability to operate in extreme weather provides the mission flexibility necessary to conduct vital strategic missions across the globe. 

The U.S., NATO allies and partner nations are participating in the 50th Baltic Operations (BALTOPS 50) exercise, currently underway through June 18 in and around the Baltic Sea.

BALTOPS 2021 features air and maritime assets from 18 NATO allies and partner nations, which will participate in live training events that include air defense, anti-submarine warfare, amphibious operations, maritime interdiction, mine countermeasure operations.

Command and control of the exercise is being led from the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) headquarters in Oeiras, Portugal.  II Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Expeditionary Strike Group 2 will provide command and control of Marine forces throughout the exercise from aboard USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20), demonstrating international naval integration and power projection ashore for an amphibious demonstration in Lithuania.

“This year, we celebrate the 50^th BALTOPS, an exercise that sets the foundation of interoperability across the alliance,” said U.S. Vice Adm. Gene Black, commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO and commander, U.S. 6th Fleet. “BALTOPS stands as the keystone of our exercise season, demonstrating half a century of the unwavering commitment of our partners and Allies. Lessons learned in BALTOPS enable international strike group operations, advanced missile defense capabilities and seamless surface action group missions.”

According to a statement from NATO, BALTOPS 50 consists of two at-sea training phases: the combat enhancement training (CET) and force integration training (FIT) portion and the final tactical phase of the exercise (TACEX).

“During the first six days (the CET/FIT phase), ships and aircraft will transit through the Danish Straits, focusing on maritime operations in critical chokepoints, ensuring access and freedom of navigation in the Baltic Sea. The exercise will continue to move east during its two phases, operating in accordance with international law and supported by participating allies and partners. The exercise will culminate with the TACEX phase, where the exercise paradigm will shift into a ‘free-play’ portion, and commanders are given more freedom to run their own tactical programs,” the statement said. “The TACEX phase is designed to better represent operating in real-world situations.”

This year’s exercise incorporates defensive cyber warfare tactics, techniques and procedures to help forces adapt and train to ensure an asymmetric advantage in the era of modern warfare.

BALTOPS 50 involves participation from 16 NATO countries — Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S. — and two partner nations, Sweden and Finland. Together, the nations are providing 40 maritime units, 60 aircraft, and 4,000 personnel to the exercise.

Addressing reporters from his headquarters in Naples, Italy, Black said BALTOPS is an exercise that spans the full range of maritime missions and sets the foundation of interoperability across the alliance. 

“BALTOPS represents half a century of unwavering commitment to maritime security by our partners and allies,” said Black. “Lessons learned during BALTOPS enable international strike group operations, advanced missile defense capabilities, seamless surface action group missions, amphibious operations, and mine warfare.”

Speaking from Portugal, Deputy Commander of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO Rear Adm. James Morley, Royal Navy, said BALTOPS forms a key element of NATO’s exercise program and NATO’s deterrence and defense, as well as demonstrates and develops alliance capability and readiness. “It serves a number of purposes, but principally it’s an opportunity to demonstrate alliance cohesion, a chance to demonstrate and to develop and to test alliance capability, and it’s all done with an emphasis on transparency. And I might just touch on each of those points in turn.”

Morley said BALTOPS provides the opportunity for allies to operate alongside each other, “Just as they would fight together, training across the entire spectrums of naval warfare against conventional threats from aircraft, ships, and submarines, including this year against a highly capable Swedish submarine, and in mine warfare, in amphibious operations, and in maritime interdiction operations.”

BALTOPS 2021 began with a training and integration period to improve unit readiness using a pre-planned serialized program. The exercise then moves to a tactical or free-play phase. “Units won’t know what the enemy will do next and will be expected to react as they would for real to a series of multi-threat challenges,” Morley said.

This year’s exercise will also add defensive cyberwarfare tactics, techniques, and procedures into the scenario. “It’s something we contend with and do every day, but it’ll give both commanders and operators something else to contend with,” Morley said. “We’ll also be experimenting with unmanned and autonomous systems, particularly in mine warfare.”

Morley said the forces will be using a range of both conventional and autonomous systems that various nations are trialing in the exercise to give them some real-world context and to test them alongside conventional capability.

The officials emphasized transparency. “BALTOPS is a long-planned and publicly announced exercise conducted in compliance with international law, with a strong focus on real-world safety,” said Morley.

“BALTOPS is regularly scheduled and announced, and always there is a slight uptick in Russian activity as we bring forces into and operate in the Baltic,” Black said. 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard has established a Reserve Enlisted Aviation Workforce. 

In a 10 June message released by Rear Adm. Todd C. Wiemers, assistant commandant for Capabilities (CG-7) and assistant commandant for Reserve (CG-R), the Coast Guard formally established the program, which is “designed to create an aviation surge and mobilization capability, retain aviation technical expertise, and develop a career path for aviation personnel in the Reserve Component.” 

Enlisted personnel eligible for the program are those in the three aviation ratings: Avionics Electrical Technician, Aviation Maintenance Technician, and Aviation Survival Technician. 

“The workforce’s primary objective is to develop a ground-based aviation maintenance and aviation life-support equipment maintenance capability,” the message said.  All Reserve Aviation personnel must have earned a Basic 
Aircrew designation and must have separated from Active Duty within the last two years. 
     

PHILADELPHIA — The first operational TH-73A helicopter was presented to the U.S. Navy June 10 during a ceremony at the AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corp. (Leonardo) plant in Philadelphia, the Naval Air Systems Command announced in a release. 

“The TH-73A will be instrumental in providing higher fidelity training to our future rotary-wing and tilt-rotor aviators for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard,” said Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, commander, Naval Air Forces. “The cutting-edge technology and advanced avionics within the Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) will enable a more seamless transition from the training aircraft to fleet aircraft, this in turn allows more focus on high end warfighting development and training.” 

Eventually, the Navy will have 130 TH-73A helicopters total, with deliveries continuing through 2024. The new helicopters will meet the capability and capacity gaps of the aging TH-57 Sea Ranger training platform. 

The TH-73As are fully Federal Aviation Administration certified prior to delivery, thus bringing a ready-made solution that will transition the TH-57 platforms out of service by 2025. The TH-57 is scheduled to begin sundown in fiscal year 2022. 

“This delivery signifies a new era for Naval Aviation training,” said Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff, chief of Naval Aviation Training. “By using current cockpit technologies and a new training curriculum, the TH-73A will improve pilot training and skills and ensure rotary wing aviators are produced more efficiently at a higher quality and are ready to meet the fleet’s challenges.” 

In addition to new helicopters, the full AHTS includes aircrew training services that provide availability on new simulators, a modernized curriculum and a new contractor logistics support contract for the maintenance and flight line support requirements of the new helicopter. 

Using the first TH-73A, the team will train the cadre of instructor pilots and validate the modernized curriculum efforts, a requirement prior to training Student Naval Aviators with the new curriculum in the new system. The helicopters will ensure the Navy has capacity to train several hundred aviation students per year for Chief of Naval Aviation Training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field in Milton, Florida. 

The AHTS accounts for the training needs of all of the Fleet Replacement Squadrons, thus students will be highly trained and fully capable of succeeding, regardless of which platform they select. 

“The combined government and contractor team set new standards to meet much needed requirements in the fleet,” said Capt. Holly Shoger, Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program (PMA-273) program manager. “We are proud to develop and provide these new capabilities that will improve pilot training for many years to come.” 

The aircraft is scheduled to arrive at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida, following final DoD inspections. A total of 32 TH-73As are scheduled for delivery to the U.S. Navy this calendar year and 130 total over the contract period. The new TH-73As will be housed in a temporary hangar at NAS Whiting Field, Florida, with construction to begin in 2023 on a new helicopter maintenance hangar. 

The PMA-273 at Naval Air Systems Patuxent River, Maryland, oversees the AHTS and TH-73A. 

BALTIMORE — Northrop Grumman Corp. has delivered the AN/SLQ-32(V)7 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 Engineering and Development Model (EDM) to the U.S. Navy for land-based testing, the company said in a June 11 release. The official transfer was marked at an event with company and Navy program officials at Northrop Grumman’s systems integration facility in Baltimore, Maryland. 

“The AN/SLQ-32(V)7 EDM delivery to the U.S. Navy for continued government land-based testing following formal qualification testing is a significant achievement for the SEWIP Block 3 program,” said Capt. Jason Hall, the Navy’s Major Program Manager of Above Water Sensors and Lasers. “SEWIP Block 3 provides a critical electronic warfare capability to the Fleet to pace the evolving anti-ship missile threat.” 

Northrop Grumman successfully completed SEWIP Block 3 system integration and formal qualification testing as part of the engineering, manufacturing and development contract. This milestone indicates that the system is ready to transition to the U.S. Navy for formal land-based testing at the Naval Sea Systems Command Surface Combat Systems Center in Wallops Island, Virginia. 

“This delivery represents the next step in a multi-year effort to take SEWIP from the laboratory to the hands of the warfighter,” said Mike Meaney, vice president, land and maritime sensors, Northrop Grumman. “Providing the comprehensive hardware-defined, software-enabled system to the Navy proves out the final design and signifies the end of the engineering, manufacturing and development phase.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The admiral in charge of developing and sustaining the U.S. Navy’s strategic weapons said the service needs to have the new Trident D5LE2 ballistic missile ready to deploy in fiscal 2039 on the ninth hull of the Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine. 

“It is imperative that we start the work on a future missile and corresponding weapon system now, said Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director, Strategic Systems Programs (SSP), testifying June 10 before the Strategic Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. “This next generation of the current D5LE missile — a missile in service in 1989 and boasting a remarkable history of 182 successful flight tests —called the D5LE2, will yield multiple benefits in missile performance to include extending its service life. D5LE2 is required to completely outload out Columbia SSBNs and ensure that Trident remains credible in the face of a dynamic threat environment. A D5LE2 missile must be developed, tested and produced with the lead time sufficient to deploy on Columbia class hull 9 in FY39 and be backfitted for the first eight hulls of the class.” 

The D5LE2 effort is one of four SSP lines of effort (LOEs) in the coming years.  

“First, we must maintain the current D5LE missile inventory and provide the necessary operational support to sustain Ohio-class submarines through their service lives,” Wolfe said. “This is being accomplished through an update to all of our subsystems. All of our life-extension efforts remain on track and our current program will support the deployment of all existing warheads. We must also recapitalize all of our strategic weapons facilities to continue to support and sustain SSBN operations that enable our continuous at-sea presence.” 

Wolfe said the second LOE is to continue to work Program Executive Office-Columbia “to ensure that the transition between Ohio-class and Columbia-class submarines stays on schedule. For SSP, this requires a seamless transition of the current D5LE weapon system and missile inventory onto the new Columbia class. During this time of transition, we will ensure that the Navy’s portion of the nuclear triad remains credible by introducing the W93 [warhead]/Mark 7 [re-entry body] to rebalance the stockpile of W76 and W88 [warheads] and meet [U.S. Strategic Command] requirements.” 

The admiral said that his fourth LOE is, as the U.S. project officer for the Polaris Sales Agreement, to “continue to support the U.K. sovereign deterrent for today’s Vanguard-class submarines and their successor, the Dreadnought class.  

“For decades, U.S. policy has recognized that the independent nuclear deterrent adds to global stability,” Wolfe said. “Under the 1958 mutual defense agreement and 1962 Polaris Sales Agreement, the United States has provided assistance and material consistent with international law to the U.K. deterrent program. Without this assistance, the cost and schedule risk to maintain the U.K.’s independent deterrent would rise significantly, thus creating additional challenges for the U.K. in sustaining its nuclear contribution to NATO alongside the U.S.”   

The Department of Defense’s Naming Commission — technically the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America — has begun its work to examine bases and ships with names tied to the Confederacy and make recommendations for renaming them.

The eight commissioners, chaired by retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, were sworn in on March 2 and have begun biweekly meetings. Howard told the press the commission has developed an initial charter to guide the process and is developing renaming procedures and criteria.

The Naming Commission was mandated by Congress under Section 370 of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act and charged with assigning, modifying or removing anything that commemorates the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederacy. 

The military services were already contemplating the appropriateness of the eight bases named for Confederate generals who voluntarily fought against the United States — Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Bragg, Fort Lee, Fort Rucker, Fort Benning, Fort Gordon, Fort Hood, Fort Polk and Fort Pickett. A ninth base, Fort Belvoir, was previously named Camp A. A. Humphreys after Civil War Union Army Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys. It was later named for the plantation that existed at that location, which was operated with enslaved people. The commission will investigate if the renaming of that installation was done to possibly commemorate the Confederacy. 

Howard said the commission will be visiting the bases throughout the summer and fall and meeting with local stakeholders to gain perspectives and local opinions in regards to renaming assets.

Congress required a commission be appointed, with four of the commissioners to be appointed by the secretary of defense and four by the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees.

In his last days in office, then-Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller announced his picks, but shortly after taking office Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III replaced Miller’s appointees with his own. In addition to Howard, Austin appointed retired Marine Corps Gen. Bob Neller, Dr. Kori Schake, director of Foreign & Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, emeritus professor of history, U.S. Military Academy.

Beyond the Army bases, there are Navy ships named for Confederate leaders or victories, including the oceanographic ship USNS Maury (T-AGS 66) and guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), named for the 1863 battle led by Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Stonewall Jackson. Both those generals were honored by the Navy with the naming of now-decommissioned ballistic missile submarines — USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN 601) and USS Stonewall Jackson (SSBN 634).

Other Navy ships have honored Confederate officers in the past, including guided missile destroyers USS Tattnall (DDG 18), USS Semmes (DDG 18) USS Buchanan (DDG 14) and USS Waddell (DDG 24); guided missile frigate USS Richard L. Page (FFG 5); and submarine tenders USS Dixon (AS 37) and USS Hunley (AS 31).

Matthew Fontaine Maury, for which USNS Maury is named, is less known for his Confederate service than he was for his work before the Civil War as a student of the environment and its impact on navigation. He published “The Physical Geography of the Sea” in 1855; was superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory; headed the Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments; and wrote the Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic. His method and format of collecting oceanographic observations became a global standard.

According to Howard, the commission’s mandate is limited to defense assets with names tied to the Confederacy. That means that bases, ships or facilities honoring officials who owned slaves or were segregationists would not fall under the purview of the commission. USS Carl Vinson, for example, is named for a lawmaker who was a staunch support of the Navy, but also a segregationist.  USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002) is named for a former president and naval officer who initially supported segregation but later championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In addition to bases, the legislation calls for comprehensive inventory of military assets, such as buildings, street names, parks, ships, aircraft and equipment that in some way commemorate the Confederacy. Grave markers, museums or artifacts within museums are not part of the commission’s mandate, but it may examine displays that may glorify the CSA.

The commission will brief the secretary of defense on its progress and recommendations, and is required to brief the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on its progress by Oct. 1. The commission’s final report is due Oct. 1, 2022.

MIAMI — Coast Guard Cutter Isaac Mayo’s crew repatriated 82 Cubans to Cuba, Tuesday, following eight interdictions south of the Florida Keys, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a June 8 release. 

A Station Islamorada law enforcement team launched at approximately 11 a.m., May 30, after a good Samaritan reported seeing three people on a blue, 16-foot vessel. All three were transferred to the station’s boat and reported in good health. One person was brought to shore for additional screening. 

A Coast Guard Cutter Valiant law enforcement team launched at approximately 3:30 a.m., June 3, and interdicted a blue, 20-foot vessel with 31 people aboard. They were transferred to the cutter and reported in good health.  

A Station Marathon law enforcement team launched at approximately 1:30 p.m., June 3, after a good Samaritan reported seeing a yellow and white 14-foot vessel with three people aboard. All three were transferred to the station’s boat and reported in good health. 

A Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore law enforcement team launched at approximately 4:30 a.m., June 4, and interdicted a vessel with seven people aboard. The people were transferred to the cutter and reported in good health. 

A Coast Guard Cutter Valiant law enforcement team launched at approximately 6:30 a.m., June 4, and interdicted a vessel with 23 people aboard that was taking on water. The people were transferred to the cutter and reported in good health. One person was brought to shore for further investigation. 

A Coast Guard Cutter Valiant law enforcement team launched at approximately 9:30 a.m., June 4, and interdicted a vessel with 10 people aboard. They were transferred to the cutter and reported in good health. 

At approximately the same time June 4, a Station Key West law enforcement team launched for a 15-foot vessel with four people aboard. They were transferred to the station’s boat and reported in good health. 

A Station Marathon law enforcement team launched at approximately 1:30 p.m., June 4, after a good Samaritan reported seeing a white and brown vessel with three people aboard. All three were transferred to the station’s boat and reported in good health. 

“The repatriation of these migrants highlight the unity of effort required with many of our key partners as we work together to intercept these unsafe migration attempts into the United States,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jason Neiman, Coast Guard Seventh District public affairs officer. “These voyages are often on very unseaworthy vessels and the dangers of these trips can be deadly.” 

Since Oct. 1, 2020, Coast Guard crews have interdicted 399 Cubans compared to: 

5,396 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2016 
1,468 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2017 
259 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2018 
313 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2019 
49 Cuban migrants in Fiscal Year 2020 

Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and basic medical attention. Throughout the interdiction, Coast Guard crew members were equipped with personal protective equipment to minimize potential exposure to any possible case of COVID-19.