Coast Guard Office News

A Louisiana towboat struck and damaged a bridge in 2021, but the vessel’s pilot never reported it to authorities, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.In the early morning hours of Dec. 23, 2021, the 86-foot-long Miss Mollye D, then operated by Deloach Marine Services (DMS), was pushing six hopper barges on the Intracoastal Waterway to New Orleans, when the pilot lost control of the tow. While navigating the channel, the 676 foot long tow, began to swing to port. When the pilot realized the tow was not positioned well, he put the engines in reverse.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard, recently released the “Mass Rescue Operations Lifesaving Device Broad Agency Announcement” solicitation seeking innovative technology solutions to respond to mass-casualty events at sea.Innovators, industry, academia and laboratories are invited to submit solutions for a large capacity-floating device to keep survivors out of the water during mass rescue operations. White papers are due by 2 p.m. EDT Aug.

Radar confusion and speed cited in ferry groundingWhile the perennial issue of commercial vessel and recreational boat collisions, near misses and allisions with navigational aids are certainly nothing new, in much of  the navigable waters of the United States they are typically associated with the warmer weather of late spring, summer and early fall when privately-owned boats abound on the nation’s lakes, rivers, bays and sounds.But even after the cabin cruisers, sailboats, jet skis…

The hard-fought passage of VIDA promises a simpler, more unified and logical set of environmental standards related to the discharge of myriad vessel streams. Industry wanted it, and now it is here. Will it deliver, and if so, when? That depends on who you talk to.As most commercial maritime operators know, US ballast water regulations made a sharp turn last December. That’s when President Trump signed the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018.That legislation contained Title IX – the “Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA)…

Familiarity can and does breed contempt. You don’t need anything else added to that heavy burden.We live and work in a frenetic environment replete with a wide range of both human and technological distractions. When those two elements came together on the bridge of a towboat traveling downriver to pick up a load of empty barges, the result was career-changing for the vessel’s first mate, who was on the wheel. It was yet another costly reminder of the need for professional mariners…

Revised Comment Period: Draft Merchant Mariner Medical Manual, Notification of Availability and Request for Comments.The Coast Guard is seeking public comment regarding the draft Merchant Mariner Medical Manual. The guidance in this manual should assist medical practitioners, the maritime industry, individual mariners, and Coast Guard personnel in evaluating mariner applicants’ physical and medical statuses to meet the requirements of the merchant mariner medical certificate. This draft commandant instruction manual incorporates and consolidates prior guidance on the medical evaluation of merchant mariners contained in several Coast Guard documents.

At gmec, the global maritime environmental congress (gmec) during SMM in Hamburg, high-profile business and science experts discussed how the global shipping industry can achieve the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) environmental goals while continuing to provide its services at competitive prices.“We are at the beginning of a new chapter in the history of shipping,” said Tian-Bing Huang, Deputy Director - Marine Environment Division at the IMO, in his opening keynote.There is no question that the shipping sector is facing huge challenges…

The U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have teamed up on a consolidated publication that will help mariners save time and money. The Coast Guard Office of Navigation Systems and NOAA Office of Coast Survey will incorporate the amalgamated International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (72 COLREGS) and the Inland Navigation Rules into NOAA’s U.S. Coast Pilot publications. The U.S. Coast Pilot publications already include the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service regulations.

For the average person, tracking down a spare part is often merely an annoyance. But for the crew of a Coast Guard cutter, the availability of spare parts can be important to mission completion or greatly affect their work environment. The Coast Guard Research and Development Center in New London, Conn., is currently studying how the use of 3-D printing technology might improve mission readiness through logistical support. Now in the evaluation phase, 3-D printers are available…

Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. was sentenced to pay a $40 million penalty – the largest-ever for crimes involving deliberate vessel pollution – related to illegal dumping overboard of oil contaminated waste and falsification of official logs in order to conceal the discharges. The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Patricia A.

The Coast Guard, after an investigation of ballast water discharge violations, initiated civil penalty proceedings against the operator, Vega Reederei GmbH & Co. KG, of the bulk carrier Vega Mars, Feb. 2, 2017. Investigators found that around Jan. 29, 2017, while moored in Tacoma, ballast water was discharged from the vessel without the use of a Coast Guard approved ballast water management system or other approved means, a violation of the National Invasive Species Act with a maximum penalty for $38,175. Vessels equipped with ballast water tanks that operate in the waters of the United States must employ an approved ballast water management method to prevent the unintentional introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species.

As summer slowly fades to memory and commercial vessels have less frequent encounters with recreational vessels of all sizes, shapes and descriptions on America’s inland waterways, it might be a good time to review a strange, but not completely unusual incident that occurred in Louisiana on a navigable channel in the lower Mississippi River late last May. A workboat was pushing a small barge through a narrow tributary on a job to deliver it to its destination approximately twelve miles away from where the transit originated.

Efforts to prepare the capsized riverboat Spirit of Sacramento for fuel removal operations are being conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response and other partner agencies. The 87-foot vessel reportedly began taking on water September 4, 2016, and sank near Bethel Island, Calif. Several scenarios are being developed to safely remove the pollution threat, which include righting the vessel and removing the fuel, or removing the fuel while the boat remains in its current position.

U.S. Coast Guard Captain Matthew Lake assumed command of the U.S. Coast Guard Yard on July 1, 2016. He is the 42nd Commanding Officer in the 117-year history of the yard, the only shipbuilding and major ship repair facility of the U.S. Coast Guard. Captain Lake took charge from Captain George Lesher who served as Yard Commanding Officer from June 2013 to July 2016. Captain Lesher departed the yard to assume duties as the Ship Design Manager at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News interviews VADM Satoshi NAKAJIMA, Vice Commandant for Operations, Japan Coast Guard, in its March 2016 edition. Please discuss the history of the Japan Coast Guard. Immediately after the end of World War II, maritime security and the safety of ship operations were both deteriorated significantly in waters around Japan. Crime became widespread, while marine navigational aids and other establishments were destroyed. Many sea mines, which threatened ship operations, were planted.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is seeking input from commercial and recreational mariners for an assessment of navigation requirements on the Atlantic and Gulf seacoast. The Coast Guard Waterways Analysis and Management System (WAMS) survey is focused on the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico Seacoast System, an open water system typically traveled by mariners arriving from an ocean voyage or transiting along the coast. Individual mariners and interested maritime industry representatives can provide input until May 31, 2016, here. In addition to stakeholder input, the study will also consider environmental concerns, user capabilities, available technology and available resources.

The U.S. Coast Guard published guidance that allows mariners to use electronic charts and publications instead of paper charts, maps and publications. Issued February 5, the Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular, NVIC 01-16 establishes uniform guidance on what is now considered equivalent to chart and publication carriage requirements. Combining the suite of electronic charts from the U.S. hydrographic authorities and the Electronic Charting System (ECS) standards published this past summer by the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services, the Coast Guard said it believes official electronic charts provide mariners with a substitute for the traditional official paper charts. Capt. Scott J. Smith, the chief of the U.S.

Recently, the World Health Organization designated the Zika virus as a global public health emergency. This has prompted questions from the maritime industry regarding reporting requirements for any vessel crewmembers or passengers who may be exhibiting symptoms of the Zika virus. * Under 42 C.F.R. § 71.2, vessel representatives are reminded that they are required to report sick or deceased crew or passengers within the last 15 days to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). * Also, under 33 C.F.R. § 160.215, the owner, agent, master, operator, or person in charge of a vessel is required to immediately notify the nearest Coast Guard Sector whenever there is a hazardous condition aboard the vessel. An ill person on board may constitute a hazardous condition that should be reported.

The Coast Guard is reminding boaters and paddlers heading out on the water this holiday season to keep safety in mind. Weather forecasts are slated to bring unseasonably warm air, but the water can be dangerously cold. The current water temperature in Boston Harbor is 46 degrees Fahrenheit, but last winter during the coldest month it averaged 36 degrees Fahrenheit. “Excited boaters and paddlers in their new canoes and kayaks will understandably want to take advantage of the mild weather,” said Walt Taylor, the 1st Coast Guard District’s recreational boating safety specialist. The ocean and inland waterways in New England pose unique dangers in the wintertime. “When a person falls in cold water, their body responds to initial shock with an instantaneous gasp for air," said Taylor.

Authorities struggling to cope with arrivals; 21,000 people landed on Greek shores last week. A passenger ship that is housing Syrian refugees set sail from the Greek island of Kos on Wednesday, heading for the mainland as authorities struggle to cope with a wave of arrivals. The ship, which has acted as a floating accommodation and registration centre since Sunday, was heading for the northern port of Thessaloniki, Greece's second biggest city, where it was expected to arrive on Thursday morning. It will stop at the islands of Leros, Kalymnos and Lesbos to collect more migrants, the coast guard's office said. But confusion reigned over where they will be accommodated after arriving at the port, or whether they would disembark at all.

As National Safe Boating Week continues, the Coast Guard 9th District is reminding boaters Sunday to get a free vessel safety check from the Coast Guard Auxiliary before going out onto the lakes this boating season. The Coast Guard Auxiliary is an all-volunteer force that keeps the nation’s waterways safer and more secure by providing vessel safety checks and boating education courses. The Coast Guard recommends that all recreational boaters, including personal watercraft users and paddlers, take advantage of these free offers. Boaters who have undergone a vessel safety check recently may also find that vessel boardings by Coast Guard boarding officers could be expedited.

The U.S. Coast Guard's Office of the Auxiliary and Boating Safety has officially launched its redesigned Boating Safety website to provide easier navigation for recreational boaters to locate the information they need. "The newly redesigned website has a fresh look that is aligned with our strategic partners' visions for what is important to the recreational boating public," said Capt. F. Thomas Boross, chief of the Office of the Auxiliary and Boating Safety at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. The redesign of www.uscgboating.org offers users — whether a manufacturer, a boating safety partner or a recreational boater — a more streamlined route to quickly find the content or information they seek with a minimum number of keystrokes and clicks.

Noble Drilling (U.S.) LLC was charged with environmental and maritime crimes for operating the drill ship Noble Discoverer and the drilling unit Kulluk in violation of federal law in Alaska in 2012, the Department of Justice announced. Under the terms of a plea agreement filed in federal court today, Noble will plead guilty to eight felony offenses, pay $12.2 million dollars in fines and community service payments, implement a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan, and will be placed on probation for four years. In addition, Noble’s parent corporation, Noble Corporation plc, headquartered in London, England, will implement an Environmental…