Armed Coast Guard News

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Thetis, a 270-foot medium endurance cutter based out of Key West, Florida, is scheduled to return to homeport Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. following a 59 day patrol in the Caribbean Sea. During a patrol off the coasts of central and South America, the crew of the Thetis worked in conjunction with multiple countries and partner agencies to slow the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. The unified effort resulted in the interdiction of a suspected drug smuggling vessel transporting approximately 600 kilograms of cocaine, worth an estimated wholesale value of $19 million. During the interdiction, the Thetis utilized its embarked armed Coast Guard helicopter to stop the vessel.

Greenpeace in a 'Tweet' report their ship, 'Arctic Sunrise', boarded in the Pechora Sea by the Russian Coast Guard, and the 25 crew arrested and locked in a room, following a protest against Gazprom's Arctic drilling operations. The Greenpeace website carried information that by means of a helicopter and ropes, armed Coast Guard officials boarded the vessel and started rounding up the activists, assembling them on the helideck. Greenpeace International activists locked inside the radio room said they saw other activists detained on their knees with guns pointed at them.

The Coast Guard remains at its highest state of alert and readiness since World War II, following the president?s authorized military action against the terrorist regime in Afghanistan. "Coast Guard air and sea patrols are keeping a watchful eye on all vessel movements around the clock in many of the more than 300 ports and 88,000 miles of U.S. coast and shoreline," said Lt. Cmdr. Brendan McPherson, a spokesman for the Coast Guard Atlantic Area command in Portsmouth. Ports from Boston to Texas are under tighter security than they have been in more than fifty years. The Coast Guard has stepped up both the frequency and vigilance of its armed patrols, which were significantly increased just hours after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks Sept. 11.

With the country in its second month of action after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the Coast Guard has implemented an unprecedented number of maritime safety and security measures. “We continue to be at a heightened state of alert and awareness,” said Lt. Cmdr. Brendan McPherson, a spokesman with the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area headquarters here. Among the most recent safeguards put in place to maintain port safety and security in more than 360 ports, along 95,000 miles of U.S. · 94 security zones, an all-time high, have been established nationwide. · Beginning today, most commercial vessels bound for U.S. ports will be required to provide 96-hour advance notice of arrival information to the Coast Guard’s new National Vessel Movement Center.

Dennis L. Bryant, Senior Maritime Counsel at the law firm of Holland & Knight, Washington, D.C., is a contributing editor of MR/EN. The first foreign terrorist attack inside the United States was not the aviation-based assault of September 11, 2001. Eighty-five years earlier, foreign terrorists attacked a vital marine port facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey. Lest we forget. Port security was first formally recognized as a national priority, and a Coast Guard mission, during the World War I era. Early on the morning of July 30, 1916, a tremendous series of explosions ripped through the waterfront at Black Tom Island in Jersey City, New Jersey. Even though Europe had been at war for almost two years, peace still reigned in the United States. Although officially neutral, U.S.

On March 20,the Maritime Transportation Antiterrorism Act of 2002 (H.R. 3983) was approved by the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation and then approved by the full Transportation Committee by a voice vote. Section 2 of the bill creates a new subtitle VI of title 46, United States Code, to establish a comprehensive national system of antiterrorism security enhancements. Chapter 701 of this subtitle contains provisions related to port security. New section 70102 of title 46 requires the Coast Guard to conduct port vulnerability assessments for U.S. ports, including an assessment of the vulnerability of each facility in a port, at which there is a high risk of a catastrophic emergency.

Bipartisan legislation that establishes a comprehensive national system to increase anti-terrorism security at U.S. ports and waterways was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 4. “The Maritime Transportation Antiterrorism Act of 2002” (H.R. 3983) was approved by a voice vote. - Rep. - Rep. - Rep. - Rep. The legislation approved by the House today also included the provisions from “The Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002” (H.R. 3507) which authorizes $5.9 billion for Coast Guard programs and operations during fiscal year 2002. H.R. 3507 was approved by the House in December 2001, but the Senate has continually refused to consider the bill.

Bipartisan legislation that establishes a comprehensive national system to increase anti-terrorism security at U.S. ports and waterways — "The Maritime Transportation Antiterrorism Act of 2002" (H.R. 3983) — was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 4. The legislation approved by the House also included the provisions from "The Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002" (H.R. 3507) which authorizes $5.9 billion for Coast Guard programs and operations during fiscal year 2002. H.R. 3507 was approved by the House in December 2001, but the Senate has continually refused to consider the bill. "Port security is an essential piece of an effective Homeland Security program," said Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young.

The Coast Guard has increased maritime security measures under Operation Liberty Shield. Operation Liberty Shield is a comprehensive national plan designed to increase protections for America’s citizens and infrastructure while maintaining the free flow of goods and people across our border with minimal disruption to our economy and way of life. Operation Liberty Shield is a multi-department, multi-agency, national-team effort. Hundreds of cutters, aircraft and small boats manned by thousands of Coast Guard active duty and reserve members are guarding the coast, ports and waterways. More Patrols - Security has been increased at major U.S. ports and waterways with more Coast Guard patrols by aircraft, ships and boats.

The U.S. Coast Guard detained the 880-ft. oil tanker, Aldawha, in Delaware Bay because two crewmembers are Iraqi nationals. The Coast Guard Captain of the Port in Philadelphia ordered the Qatar-flagged M/V Aldawha to remain at anchor last Wednesday evening upon determining through Advance Notice of Arrival screening that two crewmembers aboard the U.S. bound ship are Iraqi nationals. A Coast Guard boarding team boarded the ship and completed an inspection of the ship. As of Friday, the ship remains under positive control of an armed Coast Guard boarding team and officials from the Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an investigation into the status of the crew is ongoing.