U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Transferred to Bangladesh Navy

Jarvis, a 378-foot High Endurance Cutter homeported in Alameda, decommissioned and transferred to the Bangladesh navy as the BNS Somudra Joy.

The signing over ceremony took place on Coast Guard Island in Alameda.

A 20-member team from the Bangladesh navy, led by prospective commanding officer Capt. Mohammad Nazmul Karim Kislu, arrived in Alameda in March to begin preparations to receive the Jarvis. An additional 70 members of the Bangladesh crew arrived in May. Until the BNS Sumudra Joy’s departure from California later this year, 26 former Jarvis crew members will serve as advisors and assist the Bangladesh crew.

Commissioned in 1972, the Jarvis was the fourth in its class of High Endurance Cutters to be replaced by the National Security Cutters which, compared to 378-foot cutters, is designed to provide 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.

In the picture U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, Pacific Area commander, and Vice Adm. Muhammad Farid Habib, Chief of Naval Staff for the Bangladesh navy, sign to transfer the Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis to the Bangladesh navy.