PHOTO RELEASE: Coast Guard Cutter Thetis crew returns to homeport in Key West after 90-Day Patrol

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 12/19/2018 08:34 AM EST

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News Release  

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District Southeast
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Coast Guard Cutter Thetis crew returns to homeport in Key West after 90-Day Patrol

Pictured is the Coast Guard Cutter Thetis (WMEC-910) crew standing on deck Nov. 22, 2018 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A Coast Guard Cutter Thetis (WMEC-910) smallboat crew conduct smallboat training operations Oct. 25, 2018 in the Caribbean Sea. Fireman Anthony Chambers serves Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the Coast Guard Thanksgiving lunch aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Thetis (WMEC-910) Nov. 22, 2018 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. An overload migrant vessel floating Oct. 28, 2018 approximately 55 miles from Great Inagua Island, Bahamas.

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KEY WEST—The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Thetis (WMEC-910) returned Wednesday to Key West after a 90-day patrol in support of Operations Southeast Watch and Unified Resolve in the Caribbean Sea in support of alien migrant interdiction operations.

The Thetis crew, along with other Coast Guard units, worked alongside the Puerto Rico Joint Forces of Rapid Action (FURA) to interdict and repatriate 219 migrants from the Dominican Republic and Haiti attempting to illegally enter the United States. While off the coast of Haiti, the cutter crew rescued six Jamaicans who were stranded at sea for three days with little food and water.

“The crew of the Thetis worked with the Haitian Coast Guard and National Police, the Dominican Republic Navy, the Cuban Border Guard, and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force as well as key United States agencies including the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, strengthening our domestic and international partnerships,” said Cmdr. Randall Chong, commanding officer of the cutter Thetis. “I’m very proud of my crew for our continued contributions to stopping the flow of illegal migrants while rescuing those without basic survival equipment who were found drifting in the ocean for several days.” 

Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the Coast Guard and Master Chief Petty Officer Jason Vanderhaden, master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard, joined the crew for a Thanksgiving meal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they expressed gratitude for crew’s sacrifices made while underway during patrol. The commandant specially recognized several crewmembers for their commitment to excellence and for exemplifying his guiding principles: ready, relevant and responsive.

The cutter Thetis is a 270-foot famous-class cutter, homeported in Key West and has a crew of 100.

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-USCG-