E P Bertholf News

A fire-stricken U.S. Coast Guard cutter docked in Yokosuka, Japan Tuesday for inspection and possible repairs days after an onboard blaze left five crew members with minor injuries.Black smoke was reported on the cutter Waesche (WMSL 751) at 5:18 p.m. (local time) on Sunday while the ship was on deployed within the U.S. 7th Fleet's area of operations, the Coast Guard said.Onboard crews were able to contain the flames in the ship' exhaust stack and nearby spaces, and all fires…

The U.S. Coast Guard is naming the 11th Legend-Class National Security Cutter (NSC) in honor of Elizebeth Smith Friedman.Friedman was a pioneering code-breaker for the Coast Guard during the Prohibition Era and World War II, serving within the Coast Guard Cryptanalytic Unit-387. She has been dubbed "America's first female cryptanalyst" and in many ways could be considered the founder of the modern-day Coast Guard Intelligence Program.Her work with the Coast Guard began soon after the passage of the Volstead Act, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, or trade of alcohol in the United States.

The United States sent Navy and Coast Guard ships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the U.S. military said, as part of an increase in the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.The voyage risks raising tensions with China further but will likely be viewed by self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support from Washington amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing.The two ships were identified as the Navy destroyer Curtis Wilbur and the Coast Guard cutter Bertholf, a U.S.

The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard delivered his first State of the Coast Guard address Thursday at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach in San Pedro.Speaking from the largest port in the nation, Adm. Karl Schultz highlighted Coast Guard security and marine safety operations, which facilitate $4.6 trillion in annual economic activity.Schultz also recognized the service and sacrifice of Coast Guard men and women deployed around the world ensuring global peace and prosperity, including servicemembers supporting U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Central Command.

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returned to homeport from a 94-day patrol in drug trafficking zones of the Eastern Pacific, after seizing approximately 17,203 pounds of cocaine from suspected smugglers, April 8, 2016. The drugs were seized from nine suspected drug smuggling vessels. The contraband is valued at more than $260 million. Harriet Lane’s crew worked in conjunction with detachments from the Coast Guard’s Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team (PACTACLET) from San Diego…

The Coast Guard offloaded approximately 36,000 pounds of cocaine Tuesday, which was seized during a counter-drug patrol in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The contraband offloaded by the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf's (WMSL-750) crew represents 17 interdictions of suspected smuggling vessels off the coasts of Central and South America by five Coast Guard cutters between early February and early March. “This offload by the Bertholf represents the great work being conducted in the Eastern Pacific combating the transnational organized crime groups, behind the drug trade which spread instability, fear and harm to people, communities and entire nations,” said Rear Adm.

Vigor built on its ongoing investments in critical infrastructure in the Puget Sound in 2017 with the $20 million investment in another drydock. At 640 ft. long with a clear width of 116 ft., the new dock will be the third, and largest, at Vigor’s Harbor Island shipyard. The drydock is expected to be operational in early first quarter 2018 and is part of Vigor’s ongoing commitment to make Harbor Island a primary destination for ship repair and conversion on the West Coast for both commercial and government customers.

On Thursday, October 6th, 2016, Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. President & CEO Morton S. Bouchard III was honored at the Coast Guard Foundation 36th Annual Salute to the United States Coast Guard National Awards Dinner, in New York City. Mr. Bouchard has been a supporter of the United States Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Foundation since 1985. Through his dedication over the past 30+ years he has helped grow various programs including, education and the Fallen Heroes Scholarship program…

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division authenticated the keel for the company’s seventh U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter, Kimball (WMSL 756), today. “Kimball, like her sister ships, is being built to the highest-quality standards with outstanding cost and schedule performance, and the NSC team is energized to make this one the best yet,” said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. “The National Security Cutter is the most technologically advanced ship in the Coast Guard fleet.

Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), was honored by the Coast Guard Foundation at the 35th annual Salute to the United States Coast Guard, held last Thursday at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. At the dinner, Petters and HII were recognized for their support of the Coast Guard Foundation and its mission. “Huntington Ingalls Industries has been a strong supporter of the Coast Guard Foundation for the past 30 years,” said Anne Brengle, the foundation’s president.

L-3 KEO announced  it has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract option from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) for nine MK 20 Electro-Optical Sensor Systems (EOSSs). L-3 KEO will build and test the systems, as well as perform engineering services activities, over the course of the next two years in its Northampton, Mass. facility. This is the final contract option from a sole-source NAVSEA contract that was awarded to L-3 KEO in 2011 and raises the total number of MK 20 EOSSs ordered to 61. The MK 20 EOSS is an integral part of both the MK 34 and MK 48 Gun Weapon Systems (GWSs) and provides highly accurate, three-dimensional…

GE Marine reports that its LM2500 gas turbine will power the United States Coast Guard’s eighth National Security Cutter Midgett (WMSL 757). The ship will be powered by one GE LM2500 gas turbine and two diesel engines in a Combined Diesel And Gas turbine (CODAG) propulsion system. All eight ships in the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutter program feature the same LM2500-based CODAG propulsion arrangement. Similar to its sister NSCs, Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding division will construct the 418-foot-long Midgett at its Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard.

Day after day, the U.S. Coast Guard continues to conduct its 11 statutory missions with its limited resources. It is challenged to Invest in long-term operational capacity while continuing to carry out its daily missions. “We’re a small service, but as always, we do punch above our weight class,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft during the 2015 Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Virginia. While the Coast Guard may have drifted off course with its ambitious and holistic Deepwater recapitalization effort…

The Coast Guard accepted delivery of the fourth National Security Cutter, Hamilton, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Monday. Hamilton will be the first of two NSCs to be homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. The cutter will be commissioned into service Dec. “After three years of fabrication and expert craftsmanship, Ingalls shipyard has delivered a great ship to the Coast Guard,” said Capt. Douglas Fears, the prospective commanding officer of Hamilton. The cutter is now officially an asset of the Coast Guard and custody is turned over from the shipyard to its commanding officer and crew. “Hamilton's crew has prepared over six months for this day…

Ship construction programs move ahead, but it’s not smooth sailing. Navies and Coast Guards everywhere face budgetary pressure, even in the U.S. which has the largest Navy in the world. The balance between desire for capacity and capability and pressure for affordability has never been more acute with the precarious budgetary issues presented by declining defense budgets, sequestration, continuing resolutions and government shutdowns. Even so, there are ongoing major construction efforts to include large nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines…

The numerous cutters and craft of the U.S. Coast Guard —from the sail training ship Eagle to the large oceangoing patrol ships; from polar icebrakers to small utility boats — form a formidable fleet to meet the many challenging assignments undertaken by the service. In 2014 the Coast Guard continues its recapitalization program with its National Security Cutter (NSC), Fast Response Cutter (FPC) and Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC). The service plans to procure 91 cutters (8 NSCs, 25 OPCs and 58 FRCs) to replace are 90 aging cutters and patrol boats. According to a Feb.

Building programs continue, spanning the full range of missions, despite budget concerns. Amidst all the talk of Beltway budget cutbacks and sequestration, the U.S. Coast Guard is quietly investing approximately $30 billion in major acquisition projects to modernize its physical assets. The process of recapitalizing these older and difficult-to-maintain assets has never been an easy task, and the Coast Guard has seen its share of bumps along the way. For example, the initially messy Deepwater debacle initially kicked off what has evolved into today’s more successful recapitalization process, now run by the Coast Guard’s Acquisition Directorate, which stood up in July 2007.

The U.S Coast Guard christened its fourth National Security Cutter Saturday, during a ceremony at Ingalls Shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss. The cutter's sponsor, Linda Kapral Papp, led the time-honored tradition of breaking a champagne bottle on the cutter's bow, officially giving the cutter the name Hamilton. She was accompanied by Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp, who was the keynote speaker for the event. "A ship's sponsor is considered a permanent part of the ship's crew and an advocate for its continued service and well-being," said Linda Kapral Papp. The Hamilton was named after Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury and the driving force behind the establishment of the Revenue Cutter Service, a precursor to the modern U.S. Coast Guard.

The U.S. Coast Guard's Engineering Analysis Board has identified factors associated with corrosion on the Coast Guard’s National Security Cutter 'Stratton'. The Engineering Analysis Board concluded that the unusual pattern of corrosion observed on the Stratton was caused by Damage to the hull coating, caused by below-the-waterline welding, coupled with a cathodic protection system that was operating in an “underprotect” configuration contributed to the corrosion on Stratton’s hull. Additionally, stray current corrosion from the welding was also identified as a contributing factor.

The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a fixed‐price incentive firm target contract valued at approximately $487.1 million to Huntington Ingalls Industries for the production of the sixth National Security Cutter (NSC). NSC 6 will be built at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Two NSCs are currently in production. The Coast Guard awarded the production contract for NSC 4 in November 2010 and production of that vessel is approximately 39% complete to date. The Coast Guard awarded production for NSC 5 in September 2011. NSC 5 is approximately 16% complete to date.

The Coast Guard has completed the second of three planned shipboard demonstrations of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capabilities aboard Coast Guard Cutter 'Bertholf' . The Coast Guard is using knowledge gained from these demonstrations to inform a future cutter-based UAS acquisition project. During the two-week deployment, the UAS demonstration team operated a ScanEagle UAS for more than 90 hours of flight time and aided in the interdiction of nearly 600 kilograms of cocaine – the first Coast Guard interdiction conducted with the support of an embarked UAS asset.

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf is scheduled to return home to Alameda, Calif., Sept. 5, 2013, at 1 p.m., following a 160-day deployment to the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

While it seems that half the world is monitoring the oil and gas exploration activities of Royal Dutch Shell (Shell Oil) on the United States outer continental shelf (OCS) in waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the north coast of Alaska, another historic event is occurring in those same waters: Arctic Shield 2012. The US Coast Guard is assembling its largest ever effort in the Arctic during the period July through October 2012. The Coast Guard has been gradually expanding its presence in the Arctic over the past four years.