Coast Guard water delivery to last through weekend
Coast Guardsmen aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Walnut and New Zealand assessment teams work together last week to load supplies and containers of fresh water to deliver to a small island-nation in the South Pacific suffering from severe drought conditions.
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa >> A U.S. Coast Guard ship from Hawaii that happened to be in the right place at the right time is helping a small island-nation in the South Pacific.
The crew of the Honolulu-based Cutter Walnut started delivering 36,000 gallons of water to 1,500 residents of Tokelau on Friday. The water is being delivered to each of Tokelau’s three islands by small boats because there’s no port for the Walnut to tie up in.
The delivery is expected to last through the weekend.
Tokelau was in danger of running out of water in less than a week. New Zealand vessels were over a week away but the Walnut happened to be in the region on a routine patrol servicing navigation aids and was asked to help. The ship also delivered an assessment team from New Zealand.
