US Coast Guard, News, Reports, Data, etc.

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Sea Waves said:

Lockport LA January 13, 2015 - Bollinger Shipyards LLC has delivered the Isaac Mayo, the 12th Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to the United States Coast Guard.

The announcement was made by Bollinger’s President & C.E.O., Ben Bordelon. "We are very pleased to announce the delivery of the latest FRC built by Bollinger, the Isaac Mayo, to the 7th Coast Guard District in Key West, FL. We are looking forward to honoring and celebrating the heroic acts of Isaac Mayo at the vessel’s commissioning.”

The 154 foot patrol craft Isaac Mayo is the 12th vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program. To build the FRC, Bollinger used a proven, in-service parent craft design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat 4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessels 26 foot cutter boat. The FRC has been described as an operational "game changer,” by senior Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard took delivery on January 13, 2015 in Key West, Florida and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Key West, Florida during March, 2015.

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. This vessel is named after Coast Guard Hero, Isaac Mayo. In the spring of 1879 a raging snowstorm blanketed the shores of the Northeastern United States. The perilous seas and weather caused a three-masted schooner, the Sarah J. Fort to wreck on the shores of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Mayo, a junior surfman at Life-Saving Station 7 displayed exemplary character during the disarray as he and his crew faced the storm to rescue the schooner’s sailors. Because of Mayo’s exemplary surfman and leadership skills throughout the challenging rescue, Mayo was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal on November 10, 1879.

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Naval Today said:

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has officially started fabrication on the U.S. Coast Guard’s seventh National Security Cutter (NSC), Kimball (WMSL 756).

Ingalls’ NSC program manager, Jim French, said:

"We continue to increase our learning on this shipbuilding program, fully capturing the affordable benefits of serial production. While the official start fab requires 100 tons of steel to be cut for this ship, our shipbuilders have actually cut more than 474 tons so far on NSC 7. This paves the way for a successful three-year build on this ship."

Ingalls has delivered the first four ships in the class and is currently building three more NSCs, with advance procurement funding already secured for an eighth ship.

Legend-class NSCs are the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, designed to replace the 378-foot Hamilton-class High-Endurance Cutters that entered service during the 1960s. The NSCs are 418 feet long, with a 54-foot beam, displacing 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120.

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Naval Today said:

U.S. Navy Combat Aircrew (CAC) 9, a P-3C of Patrol Squadron 26, aided with the experience of embarked members from VP-10, along with U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian forces intercepted approximately 530 kilograms of cocaine during a maritime interdiction on Feb. 2.

Operating in international airspace over the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Guatemala, the aircrew noticed a suspicious small vessel traveling at a high rate of speed through rough seas. The P-3C aircrew tracked the vessel and remained on station until a Canadian CP-140 relieved them.

After noting suspicious structures on the craft, the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf was vectored in to board and search the vessel. Upon inspection, more than 530 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $17 million was found and seized.

The seizure comes at the beginning of a seven-month deployment for the Tridents. CAC-9 was flying the mission as part of an orientation and theater indoctrination mission in conjunction with VP-10 aircrewmen when the suspected smuggling boat was spotted.

Counter smuggling operations in the region are conducted as part of Operation Martillo.

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Naval Today said:

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $499.8 million fixed-price incentive contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to build an eighth National Security Cutter, Midgett (WMSL 757).

Ingalls has delivered four National Security Cutters to the Coast Guard and currently has three more under construction: James (WMSL 754), Munro (WMSL 755) and Kimball (WMSL 756). These ships will be delivered in 2015, 2016 and 2018, respectively. Midgett is scheduled to deliver in 2019.

National Security Cutters, the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, are designed to replace the 378-foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters, which entered service during the 1960s. NSCs are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120.

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US Coast Guard said:

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The U.S. Coast Guard announced today that its fifth National Security Cutter, James, successfully completed builder’s trials in Pascagoula, Mississippi, marking a significant step in preparing the cutter for delivery to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Builder’s trials are the shipbuilder’s first opportunity to operate the cutter at sea and survey the current status of shipboard systems.

"James’ successful completion of builder's trials means it’s one step closer to joining the Coast Guard fleet and executing some of the most challenging maritime security missions facing our Nation. The men and women of Huntington Ingalls Industries and the Coast Guard Acquisitions Program should feel proud of getting James to this point in construction," said Capt. Andrew Tiongson, James' prospective commanding officer. "The crew is excited and looking forward to the ship’s commissioning in Boston on Aug. 8 and then sailing to our homeport in Charleston, South Carolina."

While underway, Huntington Ingalls Industries test and trials team conducted extensive testing of the propulsion, electrical, damage control, anchor handling, small boat operations and combat systems. This culminated in the successful completion of a four-hour, full-power propulsion run.

“Our Ingalls/Coast Guard team worked tirelessly during the three days, and the ship performed well,” said Richard Schenk, Ingalls’ vice president, program management and test and trials. “The Ingalls operating crew performed more than 180 events and handled each one with the utmost professionalism. It is obvious to all who sailed on builder’s trials that NSC 5 is ready for her acceptance trials at the end of April.”Preparations for acceptance trials, conducted by the Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey, can now begin with the successful completion of the builder’s trials. Acceptance trials are the final significant milestone before delivery and are used to ensure the cutter meets all contractual requirements. The U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey will evaluate all aspects of James’ systems and performance. Based upon their findings, a recommendation will be made regarding acceptance of James to the Coast Guard.

The cutter is named for Capt. Joshua James, who is considered one of the most celebrated lifesavers in the world. His lifesaving career began at age 15 when he joined the Massachusetts Humane Society and ended with his death while on duty with the U.S. Life-Saving Service at age 75. James is credited with saving more than 600 lives during his time with the U.S. Life-Saving Service, which merged with the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915 to create the modern U.S. Coast Guard.

James is the fifth of eight planned National Security Cutters and the second to be home ported on the East Coast. At 418 feet and 4,500 tons, the Legend-class National Security Cutter is the centerpiece of the Coast Guard fleet.

The sixth NSC, Cutter Munro, is currently in production at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula. The production contract for the seventh NSC, Kimball, was awarded to Huntington Ingalls Industries on March 31, 2014 and the contract for eighth NSC was awarded to HII in late March 2015.

The largest and most technologically advanced of the Coast Guard’s newest classes of cutters, the NSCs replace the aging 378-foot High Endurance Cutters, which have been in service since the 1960s. Compared to legacy cutters, the NSCs’ design provides better sea-keeping and higher sustained transit speeds, greater endurance and range, and the ability to launch and recover small boats from astern, as well as aviation support facilities and a flight deck for helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

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Naval Today said:

The U.S. Coast Guard informed on Friday that it is assisting the Haitian Coast Guard in searching for possible Haitian migrants in the water after it’s believed their sail freighter ran aground in Haitian territorial seas Wednesday.

The Coast Guard received notification Thursday evening that 17 deceased bodies washed ashore in Haiti. The Haitian Coast Guard rescued 12 survivors but advised that 19 were still missing. The Haitian Coast Guard requested U.S. Coast Guard air assets to assist with the search.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew forward deployed in Great Inagua, Bahamas, conducted a first light search Friday morning, searching between Cap Haitien, Haiti, and Port de Paix, Haiti, but did not find anything.

Capt. Mark Fedor, Coast Guard 7th District chief of response, said:

Our crews are searching with every intention to find these missing people and bring them back to their loved ones. The sad truth remains that many have already perished and the Coast Guard urges all to reconsider taking the dangerous and illegal voyage at sea.

Weather on scene was 10 knot winds, approximately five foot seas. The search continues

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