Coast Guard Cutter Diligence arrives in new homeport after 64-day patrol

 

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Heartland Contact: 8th District Public Affairs Office: (504) 671-2020 After Hours: (618) 225-9008 Eighth District online newsroom

Coast Guard Cutter Diligence arrives in new homeport after 64-day patrol

Editors' Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.

NEW ORLEANS — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Diligence arrived at the cutter’s new homeport in Pensacola, Florida at the end of a 64-day patrol in the Caribbean, Monday. 

The Diligence crew performed counter drug, search and rescue, and migrant interdiction operations in support of Coast Guard District Seven. 

This patrol began May 25, 2020, when the ship departed Wilmington, North Carolina for the last time. The Diligence spent the previous 28 years homeported on Wilmington’s historic downtown Riverwalk, along the bank of the Cape Fear River. The cutter marked the completion of its third homeport shift throughout its service history after mooring Monday at Naval Air Station Pensacola. 

The Diligence crew patrolled the Windward Pass between Cuba, the Bahamas, and Haiti alongside interagency and international partners to prevent and respond to dangerous illegal maritime migration and narcotics smuggling from Central and South America. The crew also completed necessary shipboard training to maintain qualifications and operational readiness during a summer period that featured an approximate one-third turnover of the ship’s crew.

“Diligence’s departure from Wilmington, North Carolina, was bittersweet, and we look forward to starting the next chapter of Diligence’s long and storied history in Pensacola,” said Cmdr. Luke Slivinski, Diligence’s commanding officer. “The crew’s commendable professionalism and proficiency enabled Diligence’s successful patrol execution amidst the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Diligence is a 56-year-old, 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutter and has a crew of 70 personnel. The cutter’s primary missions are counter drug operations, migrant interdiction, enforcing federal fishery laws, and search and rescue in support of Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

-USCG-