Coast Guard cutter home after Bering Sea patrol

A 34-day patrol in the Bering Sea has ended for the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Munro, with the crew returning to Kodiak on the heels of multiple missions, says Capt. Kevin Riddle, commanding officer.

The crew conducted a number of missions involving living marine resources, maritime safety, search and rescue, and law enforcement, while strengthening partnerships with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Customs and Border Patrol.

Their work at sea, before returned to Kodiak on March 18, included 29 safety-of-life-at-sea boardings of commercial fishing vessels to ensure compliance with required safety equipment and safeguard of Alaska’s fisheries.

In addition, a Coast Guard air station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, forward deployed aboard the Douglas Munro, medevaced a man in need of medical care from Akutan.

The crew also partnered with NOAA and the Customs and Border Patrol for a four-day joint enforcement operation in Dutch Harbor, with visits to four canneries, completed five dockside federal fishery boardings, one law enforcement boarding, and scrimmaged against the Unalaska High School basketball team to help them prepare for a tournament in Anchorage, the Coast Guard said.

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