SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE –
The Coast Guard Famous-class medium endurance cutter USCGC Thetis (WMEC 910) arrived into São Tomé on March 31, 2019, for a scheduled port visit to enhance US-São Tome and Principe relations as the two nations work together to strengthen regional security and stability.
“My crew and I are looking forward to learning about the history and culture of São Tomé and Príncipe as well as working with our maritime partners,” said Cmdr. Randall Chong, commanding officer of Thetis. “In the maritime domain it is vitally important to build, maintain and strengthen our partnerships with other maritime nations to ensure safe and efficient coordination when responding to at-sea emergencies and law enforcement operations.”
The Thetis crew began their patrol to support U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) operations after departing Key West, Florida Feb. 26. Thetis is the first Coast Guard cutter to support and deploy to AFRICOM/C6F since 2012.
Thetis is homeported in Key West, Florida, and specializes in maritime law enforcement operations, specifically counter-narcotics and alien migrant smuggling, and search and rescue operations.
U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests, security and stability in Europe and Africa.