Tag: USCG

Coast Guard Cutter Munro Arrives for Training With Japan Coast Guard
23Aug By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Coast Guard Cutter Munro Arrives for Training With Japan Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro is now in Yokosuka, Japan on its first international port visit, to conduct training and engagements with the Japan Coast Guard. The Munro arrived Aug. 6 while deployed in the Indo-Pacific and hosted several members of the Japan Coast Guard for professional exchanges, including showcasing the Munro’s small boar and aerial capabilities, and search-and-rescue operations. The visit allowed members of both Coast Guard services to discuss their shared mission objectives and shared maritime security challenges. The Munro’s commanding officer, Capt. Rula Deisher, said it has been a privilege for the Munro to work alongside of its Japanese partners to support a free and open Indo-Pacific. Munro, a 418-foot national security cutter under the tactica...
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Coast Guard Cutter Healy Embarks on 5-Month Deployment
16Aug By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Coast Guard Cutter Healy Embarks on 5-Month Deployment

A crew of 84 people aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy have embarked on a five-month deployment in support of the Office of Naval Research’s science mission across the Arctic. On board with the crew are a team of international scientists there to recover and redeploy oceanographic instruments as part of the Nansen and Amundsen Basin Observational System (NABOS). The instruments have been collecting Arctic date for over two decades, contributing to an international body of knowledge through the U.S. National science Foundation’s Arctic Observing Network. The Healy, commissioned in 1999, is the larger and more technologically advanced of the Coast Guard’s two icebreakers. So far in August, during the first month of its deployment, the Healy was reported to be maintaining p...
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Coast Guard Engages in Military Exercises with Japanese Training Ships
9Aug By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Coast Guard Engages in Military Exercises with Japanese Training Ships

The Coast Guard cutter Bertholf conducted training exercises with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) in the Bering Sea and Dutch Harbor during a 120-day Bering Sea summer patrol in support of U.S. national security. The engagements at sea and shoreside, prior to the Bertholf’s return to homeport in Alameda, Calif. on Aug. 3, included multiple formations with JMSDF training ships Kashima and Hatakaze. All three ships came together with the Unalaska community and officials of the Qawalangin Tribe for a ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of World War II’s Battle of Dutch Harbor, to commemorate lives lost and to recognize partnerships built in the decades that followed. Rear Adm. Nathan A. Moore, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District, Unalaska Mayor Vinc...
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Coast Guard Confiscates $158M in Narcotics in Eastern Pacific Ocean
19Jul By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Coast Guard Confiscates $158M in Narcotics in Eastern Pacific Ocean

Crew aboard the Coast Guard cutters Steadfast, Vigilant and Mohawk confiscated millions of dollars in illegal drugs during counter-narcotics patrols in the Eastern Pacific Ocean from May through July, the Guard announced this week. On July 17, the crew of the Steadfast offloaded over 11,600 pounds of cocaine and 5,500 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $158 million in San Diego. “Their unwavering commitment while interdicting drug smugglers at sea is not only commended, but their continued efforts are unmatched,” Coast Guard Eleventh District Commander Rear Adm. Andrew Sugimoto said. “The crew of the Steadfast worked incredibly hard, day and night, to stop three smuggling vessels, preventing more than five tons of illicit narcotics from reaching American soil,” Steadfast C...
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Schallip Returns for Second Command of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy
5Jul By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Schallip Returns for Second Command of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy

Capt. Michele Schallip on June 29 returned for a second tour as commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy, one of two active icebreakers homeported in Seattle. Commissioned in 1999, the Healy is the newest, largest and most technologically advanced icebreaker in the Coast Guard’s fleet. Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the US. Coast Guard presided over the change of command ceremonies in Seattle in which Schallip relieved Capt. Kenneth Boda as commanding officer. Schallip previously served as the ship’s executive officer from 2018 to 2020. Boda served as the Healy’s commanding officer from June 2021 to June 2023. Twice during Boda’s tenure, the Healy was deployed to the Arctic region, including trips to circumnavigate North America and to transit the geographic No...
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Coast Guard Cutter Intercepts Vessel Smuggling Cocaine Worth $75M
21Jun By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Coast Guard Cutter Intercepts Vessel Smuggling Cocaine Worth $75M

The Coast Guard cutter Alert has returned to its homeport of Astoria, Ore. after a 61-day counternarcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean during which they intercepted a vessel with more than 2,600 kilograms of cocaine valued at some $75 million. Coast Guard officials said in late May that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Marine Patrol Aircraft crew had notified the Alert of a suspected vessel, prompting the cutter to deploy a helicopter and aircrew, along with a small boat and law enforcement boarding team. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda, Calif. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are conducted the U.S. Coast ...
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Alaska Files Criminal Charges for Illegal Trawling Near Kodiak
17May By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Alaska Files Criminal Charges for Illegal Trawling Near Kodiak

On May 12, criminal misdemeanor charges were filed by the state of Alaska against a vessel operator for allegedly operating non-pelagic trawl gear within the Kodiak, Alaska groundfish registration area. U.S. Coast Guard officials said trawl gear used in the area had chafing gear attached to it and chain rib lines suitable for fishing in contact with the seabed, all of which are not authorized for legal pelagic trawl gear. The Coast Guard did not identify the boat or operator other than to say it was an 88-foot fishing vessel and that a boarding team determined that it was in violation for trawling in the Barnabas closure are while having a non-pelagic trawl on board. Alaska Wildlife Troopers Sgt. Josh Boyle said the violation is significant in the potential it has for negatively effec...
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USCG Cutter Polar Star Home After Operation Deep Freeze
12Apr By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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USCG Cutter Polar Star Home After Operation Deep Freeze

The Coast Guard cutter Polar Star and its crew are back in Seattle following a 144-day deployment to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2023. This was the Polar Star’s 26th voyage to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze, which is an annual joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations, in support of the National Science Foundation, the lead agency for the U.S. Antarctic Program. This year marks the 63rd iteration of the annual operation. The Polar Star is a 399-foot heavy polar icebreaker commissioned in 1976. It weighs 13,500 tons and is 84-feett wide with a 34-foot draft. The vessel has six diesel and three gas turbine engines able to produce up to 75,000 horsepower. The cutter left Seattle for Antarctica on Nov. 12, a journey of over 2...
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Coast Guard Counternarcotics Patrol Confiscates More Than 7,500 Pounds of Cocaine
22Mar By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Coast Guard Counternarcotics Patrol Confiscates More Than 7,500 Pounds of Cocaine

The Coast Guard cutter Steadfast returned to its Astoria, Oregon homeport on March 14, following a 69-day counternarcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, during which they confiscated over 7,500 pounds of cocaine valued at $85.6 million. The Steadfast had deployed with a Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and air crew based in Jacksonville, Fla., along with temporarily assigned crew from the Coast Guard cutter Harriet Lane and soon-to-be commissioned Coast Guard cutter Argus. When notified by a Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of a suspected narcotics smuggling vessel transiting international waters, the Steadfast launched a crew and boarding team that interdicted the vessel after a many-hour pursuit. The Coast Guard said the suspected smugglers jet...
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Comment Period Extended for Proposed Base Seattle Expansion Draft PEIS
30Nov By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments
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Comment Period Extended for Proposed Base Seattle Expansion Draft PEIS

Coast Guard officials say they have extended until Dec. 16 the period for public comment on the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the proposed expansion of Coast Guard Base Seattle. The public comment period was previously scheduled to conclude Dec. 2. The Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is available online for reading at  https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/NEPA The release of the Draft PEIS on Oct. 7 launched a public commentary period, during which the Coast Guard began accepting public comment online at  https://www.regulations.gov with docket number USCG-2021-0183. Public comment may also be sent via the U.S. Post Office to: U.S. Coast Guard, Shore Infrastructure Logistics Center, Environmental Management Division, ATTN: Mr. Dean Amundson, 1301...
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