Cutter Northland News

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Northland returned to Portsmouth Thursday following an 81-day, counter-drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific. The crew of the Northland interdicted five vessels, detained 16 suspected drug traffickers, and seized a total of 7,564 kilograms of cocaine, worth approximately $252 million. The crew conducted exercises with the Naval Forces of the Army of Nicaragua and participated in multiple events to help improve diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Nicaragua.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton is scheduled to offload approximately 7 tons of cocaine Tuesday in Port Everglades worth an estimated $190 million wholesale seized in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The drugs were interdicted off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America by multiple U.S. Coast Guard cutters. The cutter Hamilton was responsible for two cases, seizing an estimated 1,931 kilograms of cocaine. The Coast Guard Cutter Northland was responsible for two cases, seizing an estimated 2,871 kilograms of cocaine.

The U.S. Coast Guard will offload more than 47,000 pounds of cocaine worth over $721 million Thursday at 9:30 a.m., which was seized in 23 separate interdictions in the eastern Pacific Ocean by U.S. and Canadian forces operating in international waters off the coast of Central and South America. Senior U.S. and Canadian officials will be at the offload to discuss new tactics used by transnational organized crime groups and to highlight international cooperation in combating the threat posed by these dangerous groups. U.S.

Coast Guard search and rescue crews continue searching for possible survivors from the cargo ship El Faro Monday night, covering a total search area of more than 160,574 square nautical miles. While searching in the vicinity of the ship's last known position 35 nautical miles northeast of Crooked Islands, Bahamas, the Coast Guard located a deceased person in a survival suit in the water. A heavily damaged life boat with markings consistent with those on board the El Faro was also located Sunday. Additional items located by Coast Guard aircrews within a 225 square nautical mile search area include a partially submerged life raft, life jackets, life rings, cargo containers and an oil sheen Sunday. Coast Guard Cutter Resolute, a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in St.

WASHINGTON — Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Bob Papp testified before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security on the Coast Guard’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Request, Tuesday. Papp is scheduled to appear before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. and is also scheduled to testify, along with Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Michael Leavitt, before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Marine Transportation at 10 a.m.

1941-After the Danish government in exile asked the U.S. to protect Greenland, the cutter Northland seized the Norwegian sealer Buskoe, with Nazi agents on board trying to establish radio and weather stations in Greenland, in MacKenzie Bay, Greenland.  The capture of the Buskoe was the first U.S. naval capture of World War II. 1953-When the 6,000 ton ore carrier SS Maryland grounded off Marquette, Michigan, a Coast Guard helicopter, in the face of driving wind and rain that required the combined efforts of both pilots to hold the controls and stabilize the aircraft, removed 12 crew members safely. (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

The Coast Guard Cutter Northland is at sea with the first phase of communications systems upgrades for 270-foot medium endurance cutters as part of the Integrated Deepwater System (IDS). Northland is the first cutter to receive this upgrade, which immediately provides improved performance within existing communications systems and allows additional access to a variety of intelligence and data sources, previously unavailable to these cutters. Among its enhanced capabilities, Northland will have access to classified and unclassified data communications through international maritime Satellite B services connectivity to the U.S. Department of Defense's Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNET).

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Northland turned over approximately 2,400 pounds of cocaine to federal agents in Mayport Monday following an at sea interdiction with the help of the Jacksonville-Based Coast Guard Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron near Guajira, Colombia, March 10. The transfer comes after Northland's third go-fast interdiction in as many weeks, yielding a total of 55 bales of cocaine and four bales of heroin with a total estimated street value of $50 million. Additionally, 11 suspected smugglers, and five persons suspected of supporting drug trafficking, have been transferred to federal agents as a result of Northland's law-enforcement actions.

The Coast Guard Cutter Northland is scheduled to return to its homeport today at 10 a.m. following a 63-day homeland security patrol for Operation Liberty Shield off the Virginia coast. Northland led a maritime security squadron (MSS) guarding the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. At times, Northland coordinated the patrol efforts of two U.S. Navy Coastal Patrol Boats and many fixed winged and rotary aircraft. Northland coordinated this multi-asset patrol effort to increase maritime domain awareness and monitor shipping traffic for threats to America and the ports and waterways from Hampton Roads, Va., to Baltimore. When the homeland security advisory system was changed to level orange…