The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) says that its Cutter Steadfast returned to homeport Thursday following a 60-day counter drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
The Steadfast crewmembers steamed over 10,500 miles, conducted over 100 readiness drills, enforced maritime safety and security and deterred illicit narcotics movements in the region.
The 210-foot cutter provided maritime domain awareness and served as an on scene law-enforcement asset while patrolling the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
During patrol breaks, crewmembers volunteered for a number of community service projects.
Crewmembers partnered with the community and the local Navy League to paint and refurbish the exterior of the local elementary school for children with special needs in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Crewmembers also teamed with the Bacaanda Foundation to assist in the construction of a retaining wall that supports access to a primary school, creating a safe-walking path for children in Huatulco, Mexico.
Steadfast crewmembers also represented the Coast Guard, among several other U.S. and Australian navy vessels, during the 2019 San Francisco Fleet Week Parade of Ships, and hosted more than 1,500 public tours.
For the parade’s grand finale, in front of more than three million viewers, members of the Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Team repelled from a Coast Guard helicopter to the Steadfast’s flight deck just after the cutter passed under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Steadfast is a Reliance Class cutter that has been home ported in Astoria since 1994. Previously, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the cutter earned the nickname “El Tiburon Blanco,” or “The White Shark,” from drug smugglers for its notoriously effective law enforcement operations in the Caribbean.