Coast Guard cutter restores tsunami warning system during Pacific Patrol

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter has returned to Guam after a nearly monthlong patrol in the western Pacific that included restoring a tsunami warning capability on a remote atoll and delivering humanitarian aid across island communities.

The crew of the USCGC Oliver Henry completed a 29-day mission under Operation Rematau, covering waters across the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Coast Guard said.

Lt. Ray Cerrato, commanding officer of the cutter, said: “The Coast Guard’s credibility in this part of the Pacific is built one port call, one boarding, one supply delivery at a time.”

The patrol spanned more than 4,000 nautical miles and included fisheries law enforcement, humanitarian supply deliveries and technical support missions in remote areas of the Pacific.

A key part of the operation involved restoring a critical tsunami early warning station on a remote atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia, in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, officials said.

“This patrol, from the fisheries enforcement work in FSM’s EEZ to getting that NOAA technician to Kapingamarangi, is exactly how we honor the commitments the United States made to the people in this region,” Cerrato said.

Officials said the patrol also included enforcement actions in exclusive economic zones and the delivery of supplies to island communities with limited access to regular shipping routes.