A House panel on Wednesday leveled bipartisan criticism at the Coast Guard for delays in building Polar Security cutters needed to offset the growing Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic.

Between 12 and 30 drones were spotted following a Coast Guard lifeboat off the Jersey Shore Sunday night, according to U.S. Rep. Chris Smith. Smith also said an Ocean County Sheriff’s officer saw 50 drones moving over land from the ocean at Island Beach State Park over the weekend.

A large haul of cocaine — more than 16,100 pounds of cocaine, with an assessed street value of $182.8 million — is off the market.

The U.S. Coast Guard plans to hire a commercial icebreaker to serve in the Arctic while waiting for the next generation of its cutters to be built in the next several years, service officials told lawmakers.

Vice Adm. Peter Gautier, deputy commandant for operations, told lawmakers that the Coast Guard recently witnessed the Russian Border Guard and Chinese Coast Guard conducting a joint patrol high in the Bering Sea in a worrying sign of growing collaboration.

A $1.7 billion missile-defense system proposed for Guam may have significant consequences for the island’s housing, health care and environment, according to a draft environmental impact statement.

Another nine former cadets of the Coast Guard Academy are seeking $10 million each from the service, claiming officials condoned and actively concealed the rampant nature of sexual assault and harassment of students, which knowingly placed them and others in danger, according to legal documents filed Wednesday.

Capt. James Spitler and Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Dioquino were temporarily relieved as the commander and senior enlisted leader, respectively, of Coast Guard Sector San Diego in the wake of an investigation that led to loss of confidence in both men, the service said Friday.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Resolute returned to its homeport of St. Petersburg, Fla., on Wednesday, bearing a sizable haul of contraband and five suspected smugglers.

The captain of a ship operating outside Government Cut, the large inlet leading to the PortMiami, was seriously injured in a fall Tuesday morning.