Italian Navy multi-purpose combat ship ITS Thaon di Revel (P430), Greek Navy frigate HS Kanaris (F464) and a Polish Navy M-28 B1R Bryza Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) intercepted sanctioned tanker MT Toa Payoh (IMO: 9298492) on Aug. 2, 2026. Italian Defense Ministry photo

The US Naval Institute News service reports on an interception of a “shadow tanker” by European naval units, but I have to say the measures taken don’t sound very effective.

“Toa Payoh was allowed to continue on its journey. EU sanctions only impose penalties – not seizures or arrests. Sanction penalties include asset freezes, travel bans and the prohibition to make funds and economic resources available to listed entities with sanctioned ships being barred from entering EU ports. Toa Payoh is also sanctioned by Canada, Switzerland, the U.K. and Ukraine. France, as well as Belgium and the U.K., have adopted a different approach to intercepting sanctioned ships, opting to seize and divert the ships to their national ports for inspections and fines.”

Mexican Navy, Philippine Coast Guard sail in formation during RIMPAC 2026
Mexican Navy Reformador-class frigate ARM Juarez (POLA 101) sails in front of Philippine Coast Guard Gabriela Silang-class offshore patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV 8301) during a formation exercise in the Pacific Ocean as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026, July 19, 2026.

Below is a news release reporting USCGC Kimball’s participation in RIMPAC 2026 and it mentions other Coast Guard units that participated (William Hart (WPC 1134), Oliver Berry (WPC 1124), Hollyhock (WLB 214), and the Pacific Regional Dive Locker).

Would really like to know what the other CG ships were doing. The Webber class may have just been playing the bad guys, WPBs used to do that a lot during Navy exercises.

Looking at what Kimball did during the exercise, it doesn’t really look like they did much in the way of training for war which is what I would have expected. Previously National Security Cutters have operated Navy helicopters and led multinational ASW task groups. The live-fire gunnery exercises may have been only .50 caliber. There were not photos of either the 57mm or Phalanx firing.

The three non-US ships mentioned are an interesting lot. All three were commissioned in 2020.

ARM Juarez (POLA-101) is classed by the Mexican Navy as a long range patrol vessel, but it is much different from their numerous WMEC like OPVs. It is one of a series of Damen designed SIGMA small combatants considered generally to be corvettes or light frigates. At one time I thought the OPC might have been based on a SIGMA design. The Mexican ship has both AAW (SeaRAM) and ASW (sonar, torpedo tubes, and helicopter) capability. I hope they got to exercise those capabilities.

BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301) was the only non-US coast guard vessel participating in the event. She is a relatively minimalist 83.6 m (274 ft) Offshore Patrol Vessel, built in France for the Philippines. She is unusual in that she has an aluminum hull resulting in unusually economical operation, particularly at low speeds. She is claimed to be the largest aluminum hull Offshore Patrol Vessel in the World. Crew is only 35.

HMNZS Aotearoa (A11) is a New Zealand ice strengthened underway replenishment ship, built in South Korea, whose missions includes support of New Zealand’s Antarctic Scott Base, only three Kilometers from the US McMurdo Station. She has places for 22 twenty foot containers, so potentially very flexible.

Still frames from footage of a November 2025 lethal strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Southern Spear. U.S. Southern Command

There is an unusual article in the new US Naval Institute Proceedings that suggests that the lethal strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats may be doing psychological harm to those involved. The author compares recent events in the Caribbean with what appears to have been a simpler case of seizure of a Cuban fishing boat during the Spanish American War which may have lead to at least one suicide and perhaps others, as related in a USNI Naval History, June 2026 article, “The Capture of the Paquete Habana,” by Charles Robbins.

Reading Robbins’ account in the spring of 2026, it is impossible not to see parallels to what is being asked of U.S. pilots and weapons officers right now. Since September 2025, under Operation Southern Spear, U.S. military forces have conducted lethal strikes on small boats in the international waters of the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. As of June 2026, these strikes have killed at least 200 people in more than 60 separate engagements. The legal framework rests on domestic counterterrorism designations rather than prize law, but the structural question is the same one Justice Horace Gray confronted in 1900: Can the executive branch use military force against small, civilian-type vessels in international waters while bypassing judicial review and the customary norms of the law of nations? Gray’s answer—that it could not—rested on five centuries of international law.

Gray’s answer rested on a principle that still stands, “International law is part of our law, and must be ascertained and administered by the courts of justice . . .”

This year’s Coast Guard edition is really outstanding. It discusses some issues I think are fundamental to the future of the Coast Guard. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably ought to be a member, but even if you are not, you can get limited access.

Topics include the need for a Coast Guard Yard on the West Coast (mentioned in three different articles), arming National Security Cutters, the process behind Force Design.

• Reclaim Mare Island as an NSC Center of Excellence
• Build Future Frigate Lethality on Coast Guard Cutters Now
• Foresight, Force Design, and How the Coast Guard Can Win the Long Game

All three noted above are written by serving Coast Guard Officers.

Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Hopen during its visit to Nova Scotia. Port of Sydney photo.

Ran across this photo today on Facebook. It provides a different view of a Jan Mayen class ice strengthened Offshore Patrol Vessel. Pictures taken during construction of  Jan Mayen here.

These are big ships, 9,800 tons standard, 136.4 m (447 ft 6 in), and have hangar space for two medium size helicopters. That is a 57mm gun on the bow. Crew is only 100.

Xue Long, a Chinese research ship, transits north through the U.S. EEZ and over the U.S. extended continental shelf in the Bering Sea with a declared destination of the Arctic, July 12, 2026. In recent years, the Coast Guard has observed heightened activity in the U.S. Arctic and anticipates continued and increased presence in the region this summer. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Below is a news release. Yes, it is old news, but I wanted to use it to talk about the work load on PACAREA cutters.

There are nine large patrol cutters in PACAREA, 6 NSCs and 3 WMECs. Typically that means we can consistently have three on patrol at all times, two NSCs and one MEC. Sometimes we may be able to have more but not consistently. Large cutters do not wait in port ready to be called out. Their patrols are scheduled.

About two weeks ago, we had Kimball in RIMPAC, Midgett in Japan, and Munro following a  Chinese Icebreaker.

Typical areas patrolled are:

• Eastern Pacific drug transit area (frequently covered by Atlantic Area ships),
• West Coast fisheries (increasingly covered by Webber class WPCs)
• Alaska SE Coast Fisheries (presumably now also covered increasingly by Webber class)
• Aleutians/Bering Sea
• Oceania Fisheries including American Samoa and Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Republic of Palau, sovereign countries partnered with the U.S. through Compacts of Free Association (largely neglected until FRCs arrived in Guam)
• Far Western Pacific.

As I have said before, Atlantic Area (or District SE) should be solely responsible for all drug enforcement in the SOUTHCOM/Fourth Fleet AOR. Their ships are actually closer. They have more than twice as many ships, and their headquarters are all in the same time zone.

Note patrols above the Arctic Circle, beyond the Bering Strait almost never happened until recently. USCGC Healy’s annual trips to the Arctic centered on research they were not there to monitor other nation’s activity. There was essentially no fishing in US waters North of the Arctic Circle. This seems to be changing.

We have Munro monitoring one Chinese icebreaking research ship, but a second shows up.  Can Munro monitor two ships? Do we have a second cutter to monitor the second Chinese ship?

The Arctic Security Cutters seem to be the answer to this question but the Davie design is reportedly only capable of 16 knots while the Xue Long is capable of 18. In ten hours it can be over the horizon. The other Arctic Security Cutter design is almost exactly the same size but has less horsepower, so unlikely to be faster.

It may not be necessary to monitor all Chinese vessels in the Arctic and as they become more numerous it may be impossible. In 2025 there were five. Can we really tell what they may be doing, particularly if they have remotely operated or autonomously operated under water vehicles and/or a moon pool.

Brett Bonner served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 21 years.Credit…Mike Belleme for The New York Times

There is not a lot in this story, just a report of one man who retired with 21 years service in 2022 and committed suicide in 2025 after exhibiting irrational behavior.

I think we all recognize that being a surfman is hard on the body, maybe it is hard on the brain as well. Hope we are tracking this question.

Thanks to Pat for bringing this to my attention. 

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Midgett (WMSL 757) sailing alongside the Coast Guard Administration patrol frigate Taipei (CG 5005). The location and date of the joint activity was not identified by U.S. or Taiwanese officials when released July 28, 2026. American Institute in Taiwan photo

US Naval Institute provides an interesting insight into USCGC Midgett’s last patrol into the Western Pacific.

Certainly, one of the largest ships in the US Coast Guard exercising with Taiwan is unusual, despite the existence of a prior agreement,

“In 2021, the USCG and CGA signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Coast Guard Working Group. According to a release at the time, the document created ‘a platform to institutionalize a dialogue mechanism to develop training curriculums, build cooperation plans and share information between Taiwan and the US.’”

The last paragraph may be a bit controversial,

“The [People’s Liberation Army] exercises around Taiwan in the last two years have demonstrated that maritime law enforcement will play a central role in the enforcement of a blockade,” said Lewis. “The capacity for the USCG and Taiwan CGA to cooperate under those conditions could be useful for coordinating a response.”

USCGC Legare. Screen Grab from a video of Campbell’s arrival at Coast Guard Yard June 2026 in prep for its SLEP (in the video, I saw that there are still at least four WMEC210s moored at near the Yard).

Below is a news release from the Acquisitions Directorate (CG-9).

As reported below and in  previous statements, it is stated, the SLEP program will be completed in 2030. If so, the yard is going to have to pick up the pace and/or start working continuously on two ships simultaneously.

Spencer was in the yard 20 months and Legare for 24 months. They still have four ships to  SLEP and only 53 months to the end of 2030. Spencer arrived July 2023 and departed 8 March 2025. Legare arrived July 2024 and departed 22 July 2026.

At least part of the reason these are being done consecutively seems to be that the crew of incoming ship takes over the departing ship, at least that is what happened with Legare and Campbell. USCGC Campbell’s crew cross decked to Legare.

I have been surprised that neither of the SLEP’d WMEC270s have followed Harriet Lane into the Pacific, considering the extreme shortage of long ranged ships in the Theater most affected by the tyranny of distance and where 84% of the US exclusive economic zone is located. While demand has grown, there are now only nine large patrol ships home-ported in PACAREA, while there were 14 when I retired 35 years ago.

If we are going to have only 35 large patrol ships, at least half of them should be in the Pacific so,17 or 18 ships, eleven or twelve ships in addition to the six NSCs.

It only makes sense to put some of our most reliable/most capable WMECs in the Pacific where the distance is greatest and support is more limited. I would think two more WMEC270s would be a good start. Assuming the two older WMECs (Active and Alex Haley) will be replaced by the first four OPCs, adding two more WMEC270 will only bring the total to 13. (6 NSCs, 4 OPC, and three WMEC270s and that is still years away.)

The fact that they are cross decking crews and sending the SLEP’d ships back to the crews previous home port works against the idea of sending any to the Pacific, but–

Since three of the remaining four ships to be SLEP’d are home-ported in Portsmouth, Va, which nominally has six ships home-ported there, it should not be too hard to find places for them on other WMEC270s in Portsmouth. Over an at least two year period, finding experienced WMEC270 sailors, who want to go to Hawaii, to form the core of two new crews should not be too hard.

Most obvious change in the ship is deletion of the 76mm Mk75 gun and Mk92 Fire-control and combat system.

July 28, 2026 —

Coast Guard Cutter Legare, a 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutter, departed Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore on July 22, having successfully completed its 24-month service life extension program (SLEP). The cutter is now on the way to its new homeport in Newport, Rhode Island.

Managed by the Coast Guard’s In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) Program, the SLEP ensures mission readiness, improves reliability and reduces maintenance costs of the Coast Guard’s operational fleet. The program extends the service life of legacy cutters by replacing obsolete, unsupportable or maintenance-intensive systems, enabling the cutter to continue meeting mission demands in the most cost-effective manner.

Lt. Cmdr. Ben Morseth, ISVS assistant program manager, said the following about sustaining operational capabilities of the cutters: “Continuing to invest into the 270-foot fleet and breathe life into the systems onboard will bolster the Coast Guard’s bench strength as we await the offshore patrol cutters (OPCs) of the future.”

The SLEP for the medium endurance cutters includes updates and replacements of electrical power generation and distribution systems, main diesel propulsion engines and gun weapon systems. Legare is the second  of six medium endurance cutters scheduled to receive all major system overhauls including new main propulsion engines. This intensive work, which began in June 2024, will allow the cutter to operate for an additional decade, sustaining operational capability as the Coast Guard transitions to the OPC fleet.

Four additional medium endurance cutters – Campbell, Forward, Escanaba and Tahoma – will complete SLEPs by 2030. Seneca and Harriet Lane previously served as prototypes for the electrical and structural work but did not receive new engines. Harriet Lane also served as the prototype for the MK38 gun weapon system.

For more information: In-Service Vessel Sustainment Program page and Offshore Patrol Cutter Program page

USCGC Charles Sexton (WPC-1108). US Coast Guard photo.

Below is a news release from District SE. 

This is an unusual report in that it sights the support of the vessel Ocean pictured below.

I am still uncomfortable with the designation HSC, Homeland Security Cutter. Cutter implies law enforcement authority this civilian manned ship does not have. How about USMV, United States Motor Vessel, or HSMV, Homeland Security Motor Vessel? Really I think US needs to be included in the designation as a US government vessel as it is in USS, USNS, or USCG. How about USHS or USCGV?

Homeland Security Cutter Ocean