The Coast Guard ‘s , Honolulu , - based” Indo- Pacific Help Cutter”  , CGC Harriet Lane , returned to dock Tuesday after its first police across , Oceania.
The , Coast Guard ‘s , Honolulu , - based” Indo- Pacific Help Cutter”  , CGC Harriet Lane , returned to dock Tuesday after its first police across , Oceania.
It’s a fresh vision for an older ship.  , The Harriet Lane , is a 40- yr- older, 270- base Medium Endurance Cutter—known to the , Coast Guard , workers who operate them as” 270s”. It arrived in , Hawaii , in December after undergoing over a month’s worth of repairs at a , Baltimore , port. It’s the 11th blade to get assigned to the , Honolulu- based , Coast Guard District 14.
It made its first police in January, heading south into the high seas where people of its staff boarded fish vessels to look for evidence of illegal fishing. Over the course of its 79- time rollout, the blade and its staff made port calling in , American Samoa,  , Samoa,  , Fiji,  , Vanuatu,  , Australia,  , Papua New Guinea,  , Nauru , and the , Marshall Islands.
Its staff conducted 27 vehicle boardings during the course of the patrol and found 12 fishery law violations.
The , Coast Guard , has worked to improve its appearance and functions in the Pacific. In , February 2023, Rear Adm.  , Michael Ryan, the , Coast Guard , assistant commander for businesses and scheme, told military media outlet Defense One that the company intends to triple its deployments in the Pacific in coming years.
The Lane’s dominating agent, Cmdr.  , Nicole Tesoniero, said” the , Harriet Lane , delivered on a commitment made to our Pacific lovers for a more powerful and persistent , Coast Guard , presence across the region … My confidence is bolstered by knowledge that the , Harriet Lane , is manned with a dedicated, specialist and sympathetic crew that could not be better equipped to handle the special needs of this goal”.
Many , Pacific Island , countries lack navies or coast guards of their own, limiting their ability to patrol and enforce laws in their often vast territorial waters. Many have signed” shiprider agreements” with the , U. S. Coast Guard, in which local officials and law enforcement professionals ride along in , U. S.  , vessels, giving local authorities access to , U. S.  , personnel and resources to assist in operations.
Over the course of the Lane’s deployment, the ship and the crew did four boardings on the open ocean, with the rest in the maritime territory—or Exclusive Economic Zones—of , Pacific Island , countries alongside local authorities. The deployment’s highlight, according to Tesoniero, was getting to know the shipriders on the Lane and their distinct needs.
She said,” Even those who embarked for two or three days joined the crew.”
Along the way, The Lane and its crew conducted a number of training sessions and outreach to the local community. Ensign , Aaron Motis , said that a highlight of his deployment was visiting schools in , Vanuatu, where members of the crew taught children about ocean safety and conservation.
Motis praised the deployment as “great helping out the community and just like experiencing each culture and how different each one was and how they’re super welcoming” and how it was “great to watch them go through it.”
The , Coast Guard , has played an increasingly important role in , U. S.  , strategy in the Pacific as , Washington , and , Beijing , compete for influence in the region. China has worked to expand its influence around the world, including a number of nations that have been included in the Belt and Road Initiative, a series of construction and infrastructure projects funded by the Chinese government.
In , Pacific Island , nations that includes ports to support Chinese vessels and seafood- processing plants. Countries like the Philippines rely on fishing charters and licenses from foreign fishermen as a vital source of income for their economies and have to walk a fine line between protecting and maximizing the fish in their waters.
Vanuatu , is one of the countries that has signed the Belt and Road Initiative. In February, members of the , Vanuatu , police who were aboard the Lane as shipriders and working with the , U. S.  , Coast Guardmen boarded several fishing boats and found that six Chinese vessels were violating local laws, including failing to record fish caught in their logbooks.
The Lane’s visit was the first time in years , Vanuatu , officials were able to physically inspect Chinese vessels actively fishing in their waters. In a statement to Reuters about the alleged violations, the , Chinese Embassy , in , Vanuatu , said the boats had fishing permits from , Vanuatu’s , government and that no crimes had occurred because” Chinese companies obey , Vanuatu , laws”.
On Friday,  , China ‘s , ambassador to New Zealand , Wang Xiaolong , told reporters in the region that shiprider agreements and boardings of Chinese vessels are “illegal” and” not binding to third parties”. When asked about the remarks at a news conference for Lane’s return to , Hawaii,  , Coast Guard District 14 , commander Rear Adm.  , Michael Day , said “it’s an inaccurate statement, so I welcome the opportunity to correct the record”.
Day stated,” These bilateral engagements are conducted in accordance with international law, with the host country and, respectively, the United States.”” We do these boardings at the invitation of the host countries to work together to protect their EEZs.” He continued, noting that most shiprider agreements have been around for decades and that the U.S.   regularly boards vessels flagged to other nations operating in the region.
The Lane’s crew has had little time for rest between arriving in , Hawaii , in December and deploying in January. They have plans to deploy once more in June with a lengthy patrol of the Pacific to make room for international ships traveling to Pearl Harbor this summer for the largest naval war game in the world.
” Honestly, most of this in- port will be preparing for our next out- port”, said Motis.
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