The crew of the USCGC Resolute (WMEC 620) returned to their home port in St. Petersburg, Tuesday, following a 63-day patrol in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Straits and Caribbean Sea.
Patrolling the Seventh Coast Guard District’s area of responsibility in support of Operation Vigilant Sentry, Resolute’s crew conducted migrant interdiction operations protecting the United States’ southern maritime border. Working alongside Coast Guard and joint interagency assets, Resolute’s primary mission was to detect, deter, and intercept unsafe and illegal maritime ventures bound for the United States.
Throughout the patrol, Resolute’s crew interdicted three migrant vessels and rescued 40 migrants from unseaworthy vessels attempting to make the dangerous voyage across the Florida Straits. Resolute’s crew also supported and cared for an additional 190 migrants interdicted by other Coast Guard assets. Most notably, following Resolute’s rescue of 17 migrants from Cay Sal Bank, a remote island near the Bahamas, the crew medically evacuated an unresponsive Cuban migrant by a Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Clearwater to a nearby medical facility.
“I could not be prouder of this crew and what they were able to accomplish during this patrol,” said Cmdr. Michael Ross, the commanding officer of Resolute. “They answered the call and responded to every case with dignity, compassion and professionalism.”
Resolute is a 210-foot, Reliance-class medium endurance cutter. The cutter’s primary missions are counter drug operations, migrant interdiction and search and rescue in support of U.S. Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.
