Coast Guard cutter delivers humanitarian aid

Ulithi Atoll, FSM—On March 10, 2014, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Sequoia stopped at Ulithi Atoll while returning to Guam from a fisheries law enforcement patrol. While holding station off the coast, Sequoia had the unique opportunity to transport and deliver humanitarian aid supplies, provided by the Ayuda Foundation in Guam, to Falalop Island using her small boats.
Sequoia’s commanding officer, LCDR Jessica Worst, stated, “We are grateful to have such a capable vessel that allows us the flexibility to perform our primary missions while also supporting humanitarian efforts in the Pacific.”

After arriving offshore of Falalop, Sequoia crew members removed aid supplies from the cargo hold and organized them on the buoy deck. The supplies consisted of 10 pallets containing items such as education materials, medicine, clothing, rice, sugar, and rain barrels for catching water.

Once the contents of the pallets were spread out on deck, Sequoia launched two small boats to ferry personnel and supplies to the residents waiting on shore.Cutter personnel helped to transport the supplies from the small boats to the island, where members of the local community stacked and sorted the various items.

Through close cooperation between the crew of the Sequoia and residents of Falalop, the cargo was transferred to shore in less than four hours. The islanders welcomed the Sequoia crewmembers warmly and thanked them for transporting the supplies, which are an important resource for families living on these remote islands, particularly since there are no piers for cargo ships to utilize on the island. Sequoia’s versatile multi-mission design and capabilities make the vessel an ideal platform to perform a wide variety of missions.

Sequoia, based in Guam, is manned by a crew of nine officers and 44 enlisted personnel. It is the 15th Juniper Class seagoing buoy tender and the 10th “B-Class” cutter built by Marinette Marine Corp. in Marinette, Wisconsin.

Sequoia’s primary missions are maintaining aids to navigation, search and rescue, law enforcement, marine environmental protection, and homeland security. It is 225 feet long with twin diesel engines, bow and stern thrusters, and advanced maneuvering capabilities that make it one of the world’s premier buoy-tending platforms. (USCG)