PORTSMOUTH, Va. – The Coast Guard Cutter Legare returned to Portsmouth on Thursday after a 35-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea.
Their patrol was specifically in the Windward Passage, a strait between Cuba and Hispaniola.
During the patrol, the Legare, a 270-foot Medium Endurance Cutter, supported the Coast Guard’s drug and migrant interdiction mission, as well as other Coast Guard missions in the Windward Passage.
Early in their patrol, the Legare provided assistance to 11 people on a disabled skiff near Isle de la Tortue.
A few days later, Legare’s crew spotted an overloaded sailing vessel attempting to leave Haiti. Thanks to a Creole interpreter, Legare’s crew intercepted and escorted the vessel back to port.
During a port visit in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, the crew of the Legare visited disabled children at the Casa Nazaret orphanage. Crewmembers raised over $500 for Cara Nazaret and helped fix wheelchairs, AC units and other items for the orphans.
The Legare also stopped in Kingston, Jamaica — the first Coast Guard cutter to visit the city in over two years. Legare hosted tours for students from the Caribbean Maritime Academy in Kingston and conducted an exchange with the Jamaican Defense Force Coast Guard. They also hosted a reception for various foreign ambassadors and Jamaican dignitaries.
Legare also hosted multiple officials from the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince, Haiti, to introduce them to Coast Guard missions and Haitian migration trends.
The Coast Guard’s fleet of Medium Endurance Cutters is set to be replaced by the new Offshore Patrol Cutters, with the first being unveiled in 2019.
