USCGC Diligence to return home Thurs. after one-month patrol | Community Spirit

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - The US Coast Guard Cutter Diligence will return to Wilmington Thursday around 7 p.m. following a month-long patrol in the Bahamas in support of Coast Guard District Seven, according to a news release from a Diligence official.

The Diligence left Wilmington in October as part of a joint counter drug mission with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The combined efforts played a role in denying the Bahamas island chain as a drug trafficking route. During the patrol, the Diligence conducted four boardings and stopped a speedboat suspected of migrant smuggling.

Additionally, the Diligence helped mariners in distress by responding to a report of a disabled fishing vessel about 340 miles east of the Bahamas.

The Diligence safely towed the vessel to Cape Canaveral, FL.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.