USCG (Quietly) Poking Around All the Corners of the Pacific
While I have recently pointed out that the USCG’s small force of frigate-sized National Security Cutters has been busy this summer ranging to the East China Sea, participating in RIMPAC ’24, and the bird-dogging the Chinese around the Aleutians, two other ops have been going on as well– and have flown under the radar.
GALAPEX 2024
The USCG cutter USCGC Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132) recently participated, with maritime forces from 13 other countries, in GALAPEX 2024.
Put on by the Ecuadorian Navy around the Galapagos Islands, the two-week multinational naval exercise is “designed to improve interoperability and cooperation between the navies of different countries. Through simulations and joint maneuvers, participants practice coordination in maritime security operations, combating common threats such as illegal fishing, and responding to emergencies.”
Participants included the Ecuadorian Esmeraldas class corvette BAE Loja (CM 16), patrol ship BAE Hualcopo, tanker BAE Atahualpa, and fleet tug BAE Imbabura (RA 72); the new Dutch (Damen Stan 5009) built Ecuadoran Guardacostas patrulleras LAE Isla San Cristobal (LG-30) and LAE Isla Isabela (LG-31), Peru’s South Korean (STX) made Guardacostas patrulleras BAP Río Huarmey (209), and the Colombian Navy’s CPV-46 class patrullero costero ARC Punta Ardita (PC-147).
Bottoms, the 32nd Sentinel-class cutter, was commissioned in 2019 and is based out of San Pedro, California– some 3,500 nm north of the Galapagos.
This shows the legs these 154-foot cutters have, with a little bit of help downrange. The class has been ranging around the South Pacific as far as Australia (from Hawaii) and has largely self-deployed from the East Coast to the Persian Gulf.
As noted by USCG PAO:
Transiting 3,500 miles from homeport to Ecuador and Galapagos Islands, the crew pushed the boundaries of mission sets and downrange operations. The ability to conduct expeditionary operations in support of our Central and South American partners could only be possible with the support of the Coast Guard’s Expeditionary Logisitics Element (LOG-X), providing foreign port contracting services and advanced medical staffing through the deployable independent duty health services technician billet.
Operation Nasse
Speaking to engaging with small maritime forces in the Pacific, one of the Coast Guard’s precious Hawaii-based HC-130J Super Herks is just coming off a tour around the West Pac.
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Junior Grade Nick Fuist and Lt. Cmdr. Keith Arnold , two pilots at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, man the controls of aHC-130 Super Hercules in the skies above Auckland, New Zealand, Jul. 9, 2024. The U.S. Coast Guard completed participation in Operation Nasse, a three-month operation conducted by Australia, France, New Zealand, and the U.S. to safeguard the invaluable marine resources of Pacific Island nations and the Western Central Pacific Ocean (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nicholas Martino) 240709-G-G0214-1003
USCG PAO:
From July 1-12, an HC-130J Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point patrolled the South Pacific High Seas in and around the Exclusive Economic Zones of Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, Niue, and the Cook Islands to detect, investigate and report any illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activity.
Joint efforts for Operation Nasse covered over 16,000 square miles, with the U.S. Coast Guard contributing:
Over 58 hours of flight time
37 vessels sighted and analyzed
Four potential Conservation and Management Measures (CMM) violations reported
240 hours of analyst-to-analyst collaboration and training