National Guard soldier dies trying to save drowning man in Puerto Rico

Staff Sgt. Fidel Cruz Llanos was last seen about 80 yards from the shore of Condado Beach in San Juan, according to the Coast Guard. Several local, state and federal agencies searched for him, and his body was recovered Tuesday.

Sailors with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 evacuated a man from the Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, March 6, 2024, after the man began experiencing abdominal pains.

Coast Guard icebreaker delivers sick passenger to Guam via Navy airlift

43-year-old man had experienced abdominal pain and is reported in stable condition while being transported to Naval hospital on Guam.

240305-N-NO146-1001 ARABIAN SEA (March 5, 2024) Bags of illegal narcotics seized from a vessel are stacked on the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard Sentinel-class fast response cutter USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) in the Arabian Sea, March 5. Glen Harris was operating under Combined Task Force 150, one of five task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, the largest multinational naval partnership in the world. CTF 150 focuses on maritime security operations outside the Arabian Gulf. (Official U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo)

US Coast Guard cutter seizes 1,700 pounds of methamphetamines in the Arabian Sea

The Sentinel-class fast response cutter USCGC Glen Harris seized almost 1,700 pounds of methamphetamines in the Arabian Sea last week.

The U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response and Orange County Sheriff’s Department respond to an oil sheen offshore of Huntington Beach, California, on March 8, 2024.

Unified Command continues to investigate oil sheen off the coast of Huntington Beach

Coast Guard Pollution Responders investigated the situation with a Newport Harbor patrol boat and a Coast Guard helicopter. The oil sheen discovered was 2.5 miles in length and half a mile wide, nearly 3 miles off Huntington Beach, California.

Boarding team members in a small boat prepare to pull alongside the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) for a passenger transfer in the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 6, 2024. Harriet Lane is conducting its inaugural patrol for Operation Blue Pacific, which encompasses supporting efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Oceania. Harriet Lane will work by, with, and through allies and partners within Oceania with a focus on subject matter exchanges, joint deployments, and capacity bolstering to promote and model good maritime governance. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Charly Tautfest)

Coast Guard’s workforce shortage expected to worsen in 2024

The Coast Guard’s personnel shortage is expected to grow worse in 2024, impacting the service’s ability to respond to a hurricane or an oil spill or other major disaster, a service commandant told lawmakers on Wednesday.

U.S. Coast Guard and Fiji Navy personnel stand in front of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) while moored in Suva, Fiji, Feb. 19, 2024. Harriet Lane will continue to serve allies and partners by engaging with local technical experts for exchanges, joint patrols, and bolstering capacity by promoting a model of stability in the maritime environment. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Charly Tautfest)

Coast Guard navigates bureaucracy in fight against illegal fishing

Competition over dwindling fish resources has led to international tensions, and in some cases clashes in places such as the South China Sea, once one of the world’s most plentiful fishing grounds that has now been depleted almost to collapse.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Kodiak base as seen in an Oct. 26, 2012, post.

FBI looking into ‘debris’ found off Alaska’s coast

The FBI said it will help with “debris” recovery following a report Friday that a “possible spy balloon” may have been discovered in the waters off the coast of Alaska. The Coast Guard and Alaska National Guard are also “helping facilitate the transfer” of the object so it can be analyzed further.

Petty Officer Second Class Kenneth Jones presents his own custom created sneaker from an online competition in Norfolk, Virginia, Nov. 29, 2023. Jones’ custom sneaker represents the ocean, including the famous Statue of Neptune from Virginia Beach. Jones included personal details, inside of the tongue is printed “By VA 4 VA Thank You” as his final appreciation to anyone that owns the sneaker and represents for the area. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan L. Noel)

Coast Guard member whose Virginia Beach-themed shoes went viral is back with new designs

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Kenneth Jones, a Hampton Roads native, is gearing up to enter the fashion industry full-time with his 757-inspired shoe designs.

Hawaii-based ‘Indo-Pacific Support Cutter,’ focused on Oceania, is on its first Pacific deployment

The nearly 40-year-old U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane arrived in Hawaii in December after over a year’s worth of renovations at a Baltimore shipyard.

The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Reliance (WMEC 615) poses for a photo in front of approximately $52 million in illicit narcotics on the cutter’s flight deck in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Feb. 13, 2024. Patrolling in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South, the Reliance crew stopped two drug trafficking ventures, detaining six suspected traffickers and preventing nearly 4,000 pounds of cocaine and 5,400 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $57 million, from entering the United States. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Reliance)

Coast Guard cutters Thetis, Reliance return to homeports after seizing drugs at sea

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Thetis returned to its homeport in Key West, Fla., on Friday following a 62-day patrol in the Central Caribbean Sea, and USCGC Reliance returned Saturday to Pensacola following 57 days at sea in the Eastern Pacific.