“Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday addressed the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker near Venezuela, saying the Coast Guard–led operation was carried out in coordination with the Departments of Defense and Justice, as well as the FBI.”
You have probably heard about the seizure of this tanker off the coast of Venezuela, but you may not have heard that the team that fast roped down on the tanker was Coast Guard.
Above is a Huntington Ingalls video about Frigate variations of the National Security Cutter. The video is now eleven years old.
“Navy Secretary John Phelan recently told attendees at a private dinner that the new frigate would be a modified National Security Cutter, sources told Breaking Defense.”
Apparently this may not be a done deal yet, but sounds likely. Huntington Ingalls may even be able to use parts of cancelled NSC#11 to speed the process.
USCGC Pickering Artist rendering starboard quarter. Credit: Austal
Below is a Coast Guard news release. Good to see progress on the Austal portion of the OPC program.
WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard authenticated the keel for the future Coast Guard Cutter Pickering during a ceremony Monday in Mobile, Alabama.
Keel authentication is a time-honored shipbuilding tradition marking the formal start of a vessel’s construction. During the ceremony, the sponsor’s initials are applied to a ceremonial keel plate that will be installed on the cutter, symbolically indicating the keel is “truly and fairly laid.”
Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the Coast Guard, attended the event along with Rep. Mike Ezell of Mississippi, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; Michelle Kruger, president of Austal USA; and more than 100 guests.
“This event highlights the progress made towards delivering this much-needed asset to the nation,” said Rear Adm. Chad Jacoby, deputy commandant for systems and chief acquisition executive. “With OPC design and modeling activities fully complete and production underway, we are gaining speed towards recapitalization of our medium endurance fleet.”
Ravi Khamsourin, an advanced welder with Austal USA, placed the initials of the sponsor, Dr. Meghan Pickering Seymour, on the ceremonial keel plate. Pickering Seymour is Pickering’s great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter.
Pickering is named after a revenue cutter built in 1798 that bore the same name. The vessel was named in honor of Timothy Pickering, the second secretary of war. Pickering fought in the American Revolution as a colonel and served as adjutant general of Gen. George Washington’s army in 1777. He later served as secretary of state, a U.S. senator and a member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He advocated for construction of the first frigates built to enforce tariff and trade laws and prevent smuggling.
Pickering will be the third Coast Guard vessel to carry the name. In addition to the original revenue cutter Pickering, the Coast Guard operated a concrete-hull floating base bearing the name Pickering during the 1920s.
The OPC acquisition program addresses the Coast Guard’s long-term need for cutters capable of deploying independently or as part of task groups. The cutters provide essential capability for the Coast Guard to control, secure and defend U.S. borders and maritime approaches, facilitate maritime commerce vital to economic security and strategic mobility, and respond to contingencies. Acquisition of 25 OPCs will complement the service’s national security cutters, fast response cutters and polar security cutters as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s layered security strategy.
Delivery of Pickering is scheduled for 2027.
Ex-USCGC DECISIVE (Credit: Sri Lanka Navy)
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) formally took delivery of the former United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC DECISIVE, provided by the United States to SLN, in a ceremony held at the United States Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore on 02 Dec 25.
The former USCGC Decisive is now 57 years old. This is the fourth former US Coast Guard cutter to join the Sri Lankan Navy. Decisive’s sister ship, USCGC Courageous (SLNS Samudura) was transferred in 2004.
SLNS-Samudura. You can see that Sri Lanka upgraded the armament.
Sri Lanka also has two much larger 378 foot long Hamilton Class cutters, the former USCGC Sherman transferred in 2018, and the former USCGC Munro, transferred in 2021.
Sri Lanka SLNS Vijayabahu (former USCGC Sherman)
Sri Lanka Navy ship P627 (ex-USCGC Douglas Munro). Source: Jordanroderick via Wikipedia. The CIWS, ESM, and air search radar were removed before transfer.
Map of Compact of Free Association nations: Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are in red; the United States is in blue. Prepared by Fephisto via Wikipedia.
Ran across this chart and thought it might be useful to pass it along. 85% of the US EEZ currently is in areas under the USCG Pacific Area Commander, but, in addition, the US has obligations to help the Compact of Free Association States that also fall under the authority of the Pacific Area, specifically District Oceania (formerly D14).
USCG, CBP, HSI seize vessel with $28M in illicit narcotics off Miami Beach
Below is a news release from District SouthEast (formerly D7).
Law enforcement crews from U.S. Coast Guard Station Miami Beach and CBP Air and Marine Operations seized approximately 3,715 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $28 million, from a suspected drug smuggling vessel 2 miles east of government cut, Nov. 2, 2025. CBP AMO law enforcement boat crews provided assistance with multiple marine units and specialized search tools upon initial interdiction by a Coast Guard Station Miami Beach crew. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Station Miami Beach)
“This was the largest USCG Small boat station cocaine seizure since 1995”
Just wanted to point out this boat does not look like the ones found transporting drugs in the Caribbean or in the Eastern Pacific Drug transit zones. This boat looks like a typical American recreational fishing boat. It easily blends in with the local traffic. The boats intercepted in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific do not bring drugs directly into the US. Generally they offload their cargoes for transshipment.
MIAMI – A U.S. Coast Guard Station Miami Beach law enforcement boat crew along with CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) and HSI seized approximately 3,715 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $28 million, from a suspected drug smuggling vessel 2 miles east of government cut, Tuesday.
CBP AMO law enforcement boat crews provided assistance with multiple marine units and specialized search tools upon initial interdiction by Coast Guard Station Miami Beach crew.
“This was the largest USCG Small boat station cocaine seizure since 1995,” said Lt. Matthew Ross, Coast Guard Station Miami Beach commanding officer. “Protecting our maritime borders from illicit drug trafficking and transnational criminal organizations remains one of our highest priorities. The Coast Guard and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners remain vigilant in our shared efforts to keep our maritime borders safe by preventing illicit narcotics from reaching our communities.”
CBP’s Office of Field Operations (OFO) Miami Seaport also responded with a K9 team once the vessel was brought pierside. The OFO K9 alerted to multiple locations within the vessel. A physical search by AMO agents uncovered more than 1,000 concealed packages of cocaine, weighing over 3,700 lbs. Federal agents took custody of three subjects and transported them.
“Disrupting maritime narcotics smuggling like this demonstrates the power of teamwork in safeguarding our nation and holding criminals accountable,” said Executive Director Andy Blanco, CBP Air and Marine Operations Southeast Region. “Smugglers should be warned that our whole-of-government team is watching, and they will be caught.”
We are part of a whole-of-government approach to secure our borders by dismantling Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO), including narco-trafficking and human smuggling operations.
-USCG-
“A U.S. Coast Guard ship seized more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine from a single ship this week, making the largest at-sea interdiction in nearly 20 years, officials said.
“The Coast Guard said the crew of the Munro, a cutter that patrols the Pacific and is based in Alameda, California, made the seizure during “counter-narcotics operations” in the Eastern Pacific.”
I would have liked to quote the Coast Guard news release in full, but I could not find it.
Canadian Coast Guard Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI). Source: Seaspan
Note: The MPI image does not show the right propulsors; it will use Steerprop’s contra-rotating propulsors (CRP). Additionally according to Seaspan, the design could easily be upgraded to PC3. Confirmation from Seaspan and Aker Arctic. This is one of two Arctic Security Cutter designs being built for the USCG.
This is mostly about the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which we talked about earlier. but there is some important additional information here. As previously speculated there will apparently be a new Coast Guard base in American Samoa. (See also here.)
They (Webber class FRCs–Chuck) will be based out of Guam, Hawaii, and the soon-to-be-reopened WWII-era base in American Samoa.
We probably also need to station some FRCs in Manus, Papua New Guinea.
The report may create some unwarranted impressions.
“Among other theaters, the FRCs and OPCs will operate in the Indo-Pacific in packs led by a frigate-sized National Security Cutter.” –The Coast Guard does not normally operate their ships in packs. In the Eastern Pacific Drug transit zone there may be more than one cutter coordinating their operation, but even there they tend to spread out. There is the possibility of coordinating operations with law enforcement agencies of friendly nations in the Western Pacific.
“In just three short years, the USCG will have seventy-seven FRCs in the fleet.” —FRC#61 was delivered recently. The 67th FRC was previously scheduled for delivery in 2028. With the most recent award, the total program has increased to 77 vessels, extending the production line by approximately three years. Sounds like 2031.
“Additionally, Trump signed a deal with our NATO ally Finland to buy 11 Finnish ice-capable cutters for the Arctic and Antarctica right away.” –Only four of these will be built in Finland, the rest will be built in the US.
Future USCGC Argus at launch Eastern Shipyard, Oct 27, 2023.
If you are a regular reader, you know the sad story Eastern’s problems producing the Offshore Patrol Cutter. I am not familiar with the source of this story, but it is the first I have seen that suggests there may have been some political push to grant Eastern the contract.
(Swampy sleaziness might have played a role in the decision. In the spring of 2015, POLITICO learned that the company’s owner “hosted a ‘hush-hush’ fundraiser … for Marco Rubio,” then the chairman of the Senate “panel that oversees the Coast Guard.”)
Every Coast Guard Aircraft Type Pictured Together In Rare ‘Family Photo’. Pictured: HC-130J, C-27J, HC-144, C-37B, MH-60T, MH-65E.
“The increased focus on homeland defense has translated to a budget influx for the U.S. Coast Guard, enabling the service to modernize its fleet, as a watchdog outlines a continued drop in readiness.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in July allotted the service $24.59 billion to be spent on readiness through 2029. That was in addition to the Coast Guard’s fiscal 2026 request of $14.5 billion.”
This provides a brief look at what we can expect in the future.
The slip in readiness is slight and, “While the Coast Guard fleet flies much more often than Defense Department aircraft, the Coast Guard has about the same readiness rate as the department, the CBO states.”
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