MIAMI — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Nantucket repatriated 20 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, earlier this week.
Coast Guard Sector Key West, Fla., watchstanders received notification of a rustic vessel with 12 Cuban migrants aboard south of Key West on July 3. The Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke was diverted, and the crew safely embarked the 12 migrants. The migrants were transferred to the cutter Nantucket for repatriation on Sunday.
Coast Guard Sector Key West, watchstanders received notification of a 15-foot rustic vessel with eight people aboard south of Key West on July 4. Sector Key West watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Pea Island, whose crew handed out lifejackets and safely embarked the eight migrants and later transferred them to the cutter Nantucket for repatriation.
Once aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants are provided with food, water, shelter and basic medical attention.
The cutter Ocracoke is a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The cutter Nantucket is a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Key West.
The cutter Pea Island is a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Key West.
For more information on how to legally immigrate to the United States, call U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at 1-800-375-5283 or visit the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.
The cutters Nantucket, Ocracoke, Pea Island and other Island-class patrol boats are being replaced by 58 new, Sentinel-class fast response cutters. The FRC will be capable of speeds in excess of 28 knots and operating in seas up to 18-feet. The FRC delivers tremendous lifesaving, law enforcement and homeland security capabilities in the same package.
