USCG Rescues Two Mariners Missing for More Than 100 Hours
The U.S. Coast Guard is reporting a successful conclusion to an intensive search and rescue mission that had been underway for four days after a small boat was reported overdue. The 47-foot vessel named Lucky Harvest was finally located more than 100 miles west/southwest of Guam.
Authorities in the Northern Mariana Islands declared the vessel missing on Tuesday, May 13, after it failed to arrive in Saipan late on Monday. It was traveling from Alamagan Island to Saipan when it was declared overdue and the local authorities requested the assistance of the USCG.
The cutter USCG Myrtle Hazard, which was on a patrol in the area, was diverted to a location approximately 38 miles northwest of Rota, which they believed was the vessel’s last known position. Early reports said there might have been some intermittent communication, but when no sign of the vessel was found, the USCG intensified the search.
The Coast Guard reported by Wednesday that a U.S. Navy Knighthawk helicopter had also joined the search efforts along with a P-8 Poseidon aircraft. It was in addition to the USCG aircraft and vessel, a Saipan-based Department of Public Safety vessel, and the missing boat’s sister vessel. A marker buoy was deployed to track ocean currents, and efforts to contact the vessel by cellphone and radio continued but were unsuccessful.
Winds in the area were at 15 knots and the seas were generally reported to be running 5 to 7 feet.
Friday morning, May 16, the USCG reports the Joint Rescue Sub-Center Guam received a distress signal from the Lucky Harvest’s emergency beacon and was able to pinpoint a location. It is unclear when the two individuals aboard the boat had activated the beacon, but USCG also reports the vessel was having electrical outages.
Approximately three hours after receiving the signal, the U.S. Navy’s helicopter crew was able to spot the disabled and drifting boat. Pictures show the two mariners had written SOS on the roof of their boat.
The helicopter hoisted one of the two mariners to safety and continued to monitor the boat until the Myrtle Hazard was able to reach it. The cutter was to take aboard the second individual and tow their boat to port.
The Coast Guard is reporting that both individuals are in good medical condition after being brought aboard and meeting with teams. They were gathering more information from interviews with the two individuals.
Report: USCG Ordered to Reduce Flag Rank by Quarter as Part of Force Design
The U.S. Coast Guard is preparing to reduce its ranks among flag officers as the latest step in the Force Design initiative announced last month. According to a memo seen by USNI News, Acting Commandant Kevin Lundy reported the decision from Homeland Security to reduce the senior ranks among the service’s force.
The memo reportedly says that “the Department of Homeland Security has determined that there is redundant executive oversight in our force which hinders effective decision making.”
It reports that they have been ordered to reduce flag officer positions by at least 25 percent by the end of 2025, a move that would be consistent with similar efforts within the Department of Defense. USNI reports that there are a total of 46 flag officers in the USCG, 43 of whom are active and three on reserve duty. As such, that would mean that the reduction is targeting at least 12 officers.
The memo also reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem canceled the results of the 2025 one-star admiral promotion board that would have elevated six Coast Guard captains to flag officers.
All of this comes after Secretary Noem told an audience of USCG senior leaders, “You are the finest fighting force,” adding that “funding the Coast Guard is one of my top priorities.” During her address, she praised the service’s specialized expertise in controlling, securing, and defending America’s borders and maritime approaches, including U.S. ports and waterways.
She told the audience that they were asking for the biggest overhaul of USCG since 1915 to transform and grow the Coast Guard through Force Design 2028. The initiative, according to command, is to create a more agile, capable, responsive fighting force. They promised the deployment of cutting-edge technology while also reforming Coast Guard acquisitions to rapidly deploy capabilities to execute missions.
Noem and the senior leadership of USCG promised, “This initiative will address immediate workforce shortfalls and ensure the service’s ability to meet emerging threats.”
The basic details of the program were announced at the beginning of April, with command promising additional rollouts in the coming weeks.
Vice Admiral Kevin Lundy was elevated to the commandant’s position in January after the Trump administration dismissed the Commandant, Admiral Linda Fagan. The efforts have seen an overhaul of the mission of the USCG sending vessels to protect the southern border and increase the interdiction of human smugglers.
Coast Guard Boat Crew Shoots Out Engine of Migrant Smuggling Boat
On Saturday evening, a U.S. Coast Guard boat crew shot out the engine of a high-speed smuggling boat off Point Loma after the vessel ignored repeated commands to stop and be boarded.
At about 1750 hours, Coast Guard Sector San Diego spotted an 18-foot cuddy cabin boat moving at high speed about two miles south of Point Loma, making a northbound course. Watchstanders followed the suspicious boat using surveillance cameras as it entered San Diego Bay.
A Coast Guard Station San Diego patrol boat was diverted to intercept the vessel. The patrol boat found the speeding suspects and tried to make contact with the operator, but the cuddy cabin boat fled the scene.
The Coast Guard response boat crew tried to get the speedboat to stop by issuing orders and firing warning shots. When this did not work, the crew shot four rounds into the vessel’s engine, disabling it and forcing it to stop.
The Coast Guard crew boarded the vessel and took control of the scene. They found eight foreign nationals aboard: five adult men, one woman, and two male teenagers aged 16 and 17.
The suspects were taken to Ballast Point, near the entrance to San Diego's harbor, where they were transferred to officers from the Department of Homeland Security.
The intercept was the most dramatic of three separate interdictions off San Diego on Saturday. Earlier the same day, cutter Sea Otter intercepted a migrant boat off La Jolla, resulting in the capture of seven suspected illegal aliens, and cutter Terrell Horne interdicted a 20-foot pleasure craft off Point Loma, capturing another three suspects.
Coast Guard and CBP boat crews routinely intercept human smuggling attempts off the coast of Southern California. Human trafficking methods on this route are hazardous, and migrants regularly lose their lives on the route. Just last week, a rustic smuggling boat capsized off San Diego, leaving three dead and seven missing.
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