US warns of cyber threat from China container cranes

The U.S. Coast Guard issued an additional warning to American ports of potential security risks posed by container cranes made in China. 

The new MARSEC Directive 105-5 sets out additional cyber risk management requirements for ship-to-shore cranes made by Chinese companies.

The directive follows a previous mandate for security measures issued in February.

The new directive in part states that “built-in vulnerabilities for remote access and control of these STS cranes, combined with intelligence...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-warns-of-cyber-threat-from-china-container-cranes

OPINION | How to equip the US Coast Guard against China’s grey-zone operations

The US Coast Guard Legend-class cutter USCGC Munro conducts joint training with the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force replenishment ship JS Omi in the East China Sea, August 26, 2021.

America’s allies in the Indo-Pacific are getting pretty familiar with China’s grey-zone maritime behaviour, but the United States itself is ill-prepared for dealing with it. Yet it should be prepared, experts warned a US House of Representatives committee in a hearing this month. The US must not...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/security/non-naval-security/coast-guard/opinion-how-to-equip-the-us-coast-guard-against-chinas-grey-zone-operations/

Companies that own and operate oil tanker plead guilty to environmental crimes in US

The oil tanker PS Dream

The US Department of Justice reports that two related companies that operated the motor tanker PS Dream – Prive Overseas Marine and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret – have pleaded guilty to conspiracy, knowingly violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), and obstruction of justice...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/shipping/tankers/companies-that-own-and-operate-oil-tanker-plead-guilty-to-environmental-crimes-in-us/

Future US Navy ship to honour coast guard founder Alexander Hamilton

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro poses with New York City Mayor Eric Adam during Fleet Week New York's welcome breakfast, May 23, 2024. During the event, Secretary Del Toro announced the name of the US Navy's newest Constellation-class guided-missile frigate, the future USS Hamilton (FFG 66). The future USS Hamilton honors former Secretary of the Treasury and Founder of the US Coast Guard Alexander Hamilton and the crews of previous navy vessels to bear the name.

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has confirmed that a future US Navy Constellation-class guided-missile frigate (FFG) will be named USS Hamilton. The ship will honour Alexander Hamilton, who served Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington. He was also the founder of the...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/security/naval/naval-ships/future-us-navy-ship-to-honour-coast-guard-founder-alexander-hamilton/

Oil tanker crew plead guilty to pollution charges in New Jersey

The Greek-flagged oil tanker Kriti Ruby in 2022

Two ship engineers on a foreign-registered commercial oil tanker have pleaded guilty to charges related to the concealment of pollution by falsifying records, with the chief engineer also pleading guilty to charges related to the discharge of oily waste into the sea from a commercial vessel near a...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/shipping/tankers/oil-tanker-crew-plead-guilty-to-pollution-charges-in-new-jersey/

Royal Navy patrol ship scores £204 million drug bust in Caribbean Sea

Personnel aboard the Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Trent and seized bales containing narcotics

The Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent has seized cocaine shipments worth £204 million (US$254 million) during a recent nighttime interception in the Caribbean Sea, the navy confirmed late last week. The ship has seized £511 million (US$638 million) worth of narcotics across five...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/maritime-security-world/naval/ships-naval/royal-navy-patrol-ship-scores-204-million-drug-bust-in-caribbean-sea/

Report to Congress on Polar Security Cutter Program

The following is the April 29, 2024, Congressional Research Service report, Coast Guard Polar Security Cutter (Polar Icebreaker) Program: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

Required number of polar icebreakers. A 2023 Coast Guard fleet mix analysis concluded that the service will require a total of eight to nine polar icebreakers, including four to five heavy polar icebreakers and four to five medium polar icebreakers, to perform its polar (i.e., Arctic and Antarctic) missions in...

https://news.usni.org/2024/05/02/report-to-congress-on-polar-security-cutter-program

US Coast Guard commissions tenth Legend-class national security cutter

The US Coast Guard cutter Calhoun is moored to the pier on the morning of its commissioning ceremony, April 20, 2024, in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The US Coast Guard commissioned its newest Legend-class national security cutter (NSC) during a commissioning ceremony at Coast Guard Base Charleston, South Carolina, on Saturday, April 20. USCGC Calhoun is the tenth Legend-class cutter to join the coast guard and is the fourth NSC to be homeported...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/work-boat-world/maritime-security-world/non-naval/us-coast-guard-commissions-tenth-legend-class-national-security-cutter/

US Coast Guard completes investigation into loss of crab boat near Newport, Oregon

The US Coast Guard has completed its investigation into the January 8, 2019, loss of the commercial fishing vessel Mary B II and three crewmembers on the Yaquina Bay Bar near Newport, Oregon. The coast guard convened a board of investigation, which held one public hearing session the week of May 13...

https://www.bairdmaritime.com/fishing-boat-world/potting/us-coast-guard-completes-investigation-into-loss-of-crab-boat-near-newport-oregon/