Coast Guard Archives - Page 37 of 39 - Maritime Shipping News

Oil release response in Rattle Snake Bayou continues

11 December 2018

The Coast Guard continues to respond to a well discharging a mixture of crude oil, gas, and water near Port Sulphur, La. A Unified Command has been established consisting of the Coast Guard, Hilcorp, and the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office.

Approximately 1,700′ of hard boom has been deployed to contain the discharging oil, 2,000′ of absorbent boom to collect it, and 630 gals. of oily water have been recovered so far.

Assets being utilized include:

Five response and oil recovery vessels
Fo...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/oil-release-response-rattle-snake-bayou-continues/

GAO warns of problems in Coast Guard’s icebreakers program

6 December 2018

The heavy icebreaker Polar Star in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica near the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in 2016. U.S. Coast Guard photo/ PO2 Grant DeVuyst.

The Coast Guard has set an unrealistic schedule for completing new heavy polar icebreakers, which could lead to design flaws and add to the estimated $9.8 billion cost of adding three new vessels to the service’s polar operations.

This was the conclusion of a report by the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, that was discussed last week at a congressional hearing.

The GAO noted in its report released in September that the Coast Guard didn’t have a sound business case...

https://www.workboat.com/news/government/gao-warns-of-problems-in-coast-guards-icebreakers-program/

Pentagon Balancing Military Needs in the Arctic, Future Infrastructure

5 December 2018

Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Hampton (SSN-757) during Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2016. US Navy Photo

U.S. submarines are in the Arctic to deny a bastion to Russia to attack the United States, but the probability of adding surface warships to the region in the near future as another maritime deterrent is slim, a Navy policy official said Tuesday.

Logistics is the limiting factor of operating surface ships in the Arctic, said Jeffrey Barker, deputy branch head for policy and posture on the...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/05/pentagon-balancing-military-needs-arctic-future-infrastructure

Barge operators win key changes in ballast water regs

4 December 2018

A vessel discharging ballast water. Photo: Maritime Environmental Resource Center.

After years of trying, the barge industry has finally won major changes in the way ballast water discharges from vessels are managed by the federal government and states.

Included in the “Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018” that passed the Senate and House in November is a provision that would end an overlapping patchwork of state and federal discharge regulations that has been costly and confusing to vessel owners. Operators argue that lack of a single, national standard has...

https://www.workboat.com/news/government/barge-operators-finally-win-changes-in-ballast-water-discharge-regulations/

Coast Guard, DHS launch two nanosatellites

4 December 2018

The Coast Guard, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, launched two 6U CubeSats from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, as part of the Polar Scout project on Dec. 3. Photo courtesy of SpaceX.

Yesterday, the Coast Guard Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program launched two 6U CubeSats from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The launch, part of the Polar Scout project being done in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), will evaluate the effectiveness of space-based sensors in support of Arctic search and rescue missions. Knowledge gained from this demonstration will be used to inform satellite...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coast-guard-dhs-launched/

Coast Guard seeks industry help for new inland cutters design

4 December 2018

The Smilax, a World War II-era cutter and now buoy tender, is the oldest vessel in the Coast Guard fleet. Coast Guard photo/PO3 David R. Marin.

Inland cutters are some of the Coast Guard’s most versatile boats, and the oldest – on average now more than 53 years.

A new class of Waterways Commerce Cutter is next in the Coast Guard’s recapitalization effort, and the WCC team came to the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans Friday to brief the shipbuilding and design industry.

“We’re looking for what’s state-of-the-market,” said Aileen Sedmak, manager of the WCC program, now in partnership with the Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command to...

https://www.workboat.com/news/shipbuilding/coast-guard-seeks-industry-help-for-new-inland-cutters-design/

Congressional reprieve for the Delta Queen

29 November 2018

After years of trying, the Delta Queen’s owners have finally won congressional approval to get the historic steamboat sailing again.

The 1926 paddlewheeler, now docked in Houma, La., could be in service in 2020, adding one more vessel to the country’s growing inland river overnight cruise market.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Cornel Martin, Delta Queen Steamboat Co. CEO, said Thursday after the provision passed in the Coast Guard Authorization bill now headed to the president.

Next, they have to...

https://www.workboat.com/news/passenger-vessels/congressional-reprieve-for-the-delta-queen/

Greek officials seize over 1.8m smuggled cigarettes at Patras Port

23 November 2018

On Wednesday, November 21, over 90,000 contraband packs of cigarettes were seized by Port officials and the Greek Police in port of Patras. As a result, a 36-year-old man was arrested after port authorities in Patra found more than 1.8 million contraband cigarettes hidden inside his truck.

According to the coast guard, port authority teams searching vehicles for drugs discovered the packs of cigarettes concealed inside large metal cylinders. Officers counted 90,530 cigarette packs of several...

https://safety4sea.com/greek-officials-seize-over-1-8m-smuggled-cigarettes-at-patras-port/

Seastreak crew helps save New Jersey boaters

18 November 2018

A Seastreak ferry in New York Harbor. Seastreak photo.

A Seastreak ferry crew came to the aid of four people on a sinking small boat in Sandy Hook Bay, N.J., just minutes before the 21’ craft capsized Saturday.

Officials with Coast Guard Sector New York said watchstanders at the Sandy Hook station heard a 3:50 p.m. mayday call on VHF radio channel 21 that the recreational boat was taking on water. The watchstanders broadcast an urgent marine information broadcast on VHF, and launched small boat crews from stations at Sandy Hook and New York City.

Less...

https://www.workboat.com/news/passenger-vessels/seastreak-crew-helps-save-new-jersey-boaters/

Senate approves Jones Act exemption for Dakota Creek Industries

15 November 2018

A $75 million fishing trawler that’s been stranded at a Washington state shipyard may finally be launched after the U.S. Senate approved a waiver from the Jones Act Wednesday.

The 264’ America’s Finest was built at Dakota Creek Industries, Anacortes, Wash., as a state of the art factory trawler for Fishermen’s Finest, Kirkland, Wash. But the use of some steel fabricated in the Netherlands ran afoul of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 – better known as the Jones Act – that sets a limit of 1.5% by...

https://www.workboat.com/news/shipbuilding/senate-approves-jones-act-exemption-for-dakota-creek-industries/

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