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HONOLULU – The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) returned to Honolulu Wednesday following a 73-day patrol in support of Coast Guard Oceania District's Operation Blue Pacific.
The Harriet Lane crew departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in April to conduct joint operations and territorial integrity missions across Oceania. Patrolling more than 15,000 nautical miles around the Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, and American Samoa, the cutter’s crew worked alongside interagency and Pacific Island partners to reinforce the rules-based international maritime order in the region.
“The crew demonstrated their professionalism, grit, and dedication to strengthening maritime governance in Oceania,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Brennan Augustine, senior maritime enforcement specialist aboard the Harriet Lane. “The crew’s commitment and teamwork with our law enforcement partners protects America's maritime borders and drives stability in the region.”
The Harriet Lane crew exercised partnerships with Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Zealand, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement through bilateral maritime law enforcement agreements, professional exchanges, and domestic federal maritime law enforcement operations.
In the Cook Islands’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Harriet Lane crew and two Ministry of Marine Resources officers conducted six boardings of fishing vessels, resulting in one suspected violation.
In French Polynesia, the crew conducted joint operations and exercises with French Armed Forces in the Asia-Pacific (ALPACI) to enhance collective maritime domain awareness while sustaining rules-based international norms regarding high seas fishing. Coordinating with an ALPACI aviation asset, the Harriet Lane crew conducted two Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) high seas boardings and inspections on commercial fishing vessels, resulting in one potential violation.
The crew conducted 14 additional high seas boarding and inspections on commercial fishing vessels, resulting in two potential violations of conservation and management measures under the WCPFC.
While in American Samoa, the Harriet Lane crew hosted a reception attended by U.S. Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen’s staff delegation, American Samoa Attorney General Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde, the Assistant Director of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement Pacific Islands Division, and representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, American Samoa Department of Port Administration, American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, as well as command and crew from the French Overseas Patrol Vessel Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai. Event attendees discussed the deterrence of threats to regional security and illicit maritime activities that affect U.S. border security, regional security and economic prosperity.
Commissioned in 1984, Cutter Harriet Lane is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu to support Coast Guard missions in the Pacific region. The service's medium endurance cutter fleet supports a variety of Coast Guard missions including search and rescue, law enforcement, maritime defense, and protection of the marine environment.
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