CARIBBEAN SEA - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant, homeported in Cape Canaveral, Fla., has experienced first-hand the increase in the number of migrants attempting to reach the United States.  Coast Guard data shows that as of Dec. 16, 2005, 2,683 Cubans had been intercepted at sea.  That amount is nearly double the number for all of 2004 and the highest level since the 1994 exodus sanctioned by Fidel Castro.

While patrolling the Florida Straits for two weeks, the Vigilant’s crew directly rescued or received from other patrolling Coast Guard cutters and boats more than 190 Cuban and Haitian migrants of all ages, including several infants.  Once aboard Vigilant, migrants are provided food, water and any necessary medical treatment.

As soon as the 210-foot cutter arrived in the operational theater, it responded to a multi-unit search and rescue case, assisting in the rescue of 34 Cuban migrants and three migrant smugglers from a speed boat attempting reach the United States. The vessel was taking on water and slowly sinking.  Six people, including three children, were hoisted to safety by a Coast Guard helicopter as soon as the first rescue assets arrived on scene. 

During the case, Vigilant acted as an on-scene fueling station for the HH-65C helicopter allowing the aircraft to respond to the rescue case, and a subsequent chase of a speeding “go-fast” that headed south into Cuban territorial seas. Additionally, the cutter worked with the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant, a Miami-based vessel, which initially embarked the migrants and later transferred them to the Vigilant. This was Vigilant’s first flight operation with the recently upgraded HH-65 “Charlie” helicopter as part of the Coast Guard’s Deepwater Program, a $24 billion project with more than 20 years of re-capitalization of major cutters, patrol boats, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and their associated sensors.

Vigilant also interdicted three migrant vessels, including a high-speed suspected smuggling speedboat, and two Cuban boats called “chug-chugs” that were modified boats with truck engines. The crew of the Vigilant was also faced with the medical challenges of providing care for a migrant child with leukemia. The child was experiencing respiratory illness stemming from his condition. Vigilant crewmembers assessed the child’s condition and conferred with a flight surgeon who determined the child needed to be medevaced. Throughout the patrol Vigilant has worked with several Key West-based patrol boats and Coast Guard Station Key West’s arsenal of small boats, intercepting migrants in boats and transferring them to Vigilant for immigration screening, care and feeding, and repatriation to their country of origin.  The pace of the patrol has been consistently high, and the crew has remained steadfast in accomplishing all evolutions in a safe and professional manner while compassionately caring for the large numbers of embarked migrants.

The cutter Vigilant is not scheduled to return home until late January.  As the crew of 75 prepares to spend the holidays away from their families, they will also be guarding the safety of life at sea for migrant families while sharing the holiday’s good tidings with their shipmates at sea.