26 One might think that commissioning a new Coast Guard cutter is as simple as assembling it, dropping it in the water, and putting the crew on board, right? Not exactly.
The USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) is the ninth and newest Legend-class National Security Cutter in the U.S. Coast Guard’s arsenal. The NSC is the most technologically advanced ship in the Coast Guard s fleet, enabling it to meet the high demands required for maritime and homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection, and national defense missions.
The Stone’s first underway patrol was going to be an important one: Operation Southern Cross, a two month trip through the South Atlantic to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing and strengthen partnerships with foreign agencies while doing so. Preparing for such lofty expectations is no simple task.
15th January 2021 - 16:45 GMT | by Richard Thomas in London RSS
Despite ongoing efforts to renew its fleet, the USCG finds itself short of funds amid calls for an increase in spending.
The head of the USCG has called for a $1 billion ‘booster shot’ to its budget to address ‘pressing needs’, amid pressures on an ageing fleet and a growing risk of capability gaps.
It was reported last year that nearly one third of the USCG Atlantic Area cutter force .
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U.S. Coast Guard Operation Southern Cross Builds Multilateral Cooperation to Combat Illegal, Unreported
The Department of State is proud to support the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Operation Southern Cross as part of our efforts to build regional maritime security partnerships and counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the South Atlantic. The multi-month inaugural deployment of the new USCG Legend-class National Security Cutter, the Stone (WMSL 758), will strengthen cooperation and enhance security throughout the region.
In Guyana on January 9, the USCG Cutter Stone and the Guyanese Defense Force Coast Guard engaged in a series of cooperative exercises that support combatting IUU fishing, the first such operations conducted in conjunction with a new shiprider agreement ratified in 2020.
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