U.S. Vessel Assisting Refugees Approached by Cuban Gunboats

KEY WEST, Fla. —  A U.S. Coast Guard cutter had a close encounter with a couple of Cuban gunboats Thursday as it rescued would-be refugees just outside Cuba’s territorial waters.

“It was just ‘mess with the Coast Guard,’ ” said Lt. Steven A. Banks, the Monhegan’s commanding officer. “It’s the first time I know of (Cuban) border patrol nearing a Coast Guard vessel.”

The gunboats approached the cutter from behind and came within 200 yards of either side.

The incident occurred in international waters, about 14 1/2 miles off the Cuban coast. International law prohibits U.S. boats from entering Cuban waters within 12 miles of shore.

Earlier Thursday, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said during a visit to Key West that Cuban gunboats had been spotted within the island’s territorial waters.

“The general policy is to sort of stay out of each other’s way,” Pena said. “It’s worked thus far.”

The Monhegan, which spent two days in the Straits of Florida plucking hundreds of Cubans from the water, had rescued a total of 161 Cubans on Thursday when the first Cuban gunboat approached.

The Monhegan’s crew set fire to a raft--made of inner tubes, wood and a sail--and was preparing to move on when the gunboat sped up and overtook the cutter.

A camera crew and about a half dozen other people on the gunboat’s deck waved to the rafters, who waved back after first making profane gestures. The Cubans had been ordered to sit low on the deck but stood up as the two 80-foot gunboats neared.

“They’re animals,” muttered one rafter.

The first gunboat swerved near the Monhegan again and then proceeded to investigate a nearby raft.

The second gunboat came up on Monhegan’s port side. Again, the people on deck waved to the rafters, who waved back. That gunboat also went off to investigate one of the four rafts within sight.

“They were just checking us out,” said Banks. “If they had had their gun covers off, I would have been concerned.”

Banks ordered his crew to radio the gunboat to ask its intentions but received no reply. He also radioed the Coast Guard’s central command to report the incident.

The Monhegan was ordered to head north before picking up any more rafters, even though that meant leaving adrift some rafts which had already been spotted.

On Wednesday, the 110-foot cutter picked up 288 of the nearly 2,400 Cubans found. All were transferred to a Navy ship.