Vessel Grounded Outside San Juan Harbor
The Coast Guard approved the salvage and oil removal plans earlier this week for the M/V Kent Reliant which has been grounded outside San Juan harbor since September 18. The salvage operation will begin with the removal of all the vessel’s oil products which is expected to last two days then the partial removal of cargo is expected to begin. A Protective boom has been deployed and staged in environmentally sensitive areas around Isla de Cabras and Isla de Esperanza. The salvage company, Titan Marine, was forced to delay the start of offloading procedures for the heavy fuel oil today due to poor weather conditions. The primary considerations of the response coordinators, Federal On-Scene Commander, Coast Guard Capt.
Port Workers Begin Enrollment for Federal Port Security Credential
Port workers, longshoremen, truckers and others at the Port of Oakland will become the first in the region to enroll in the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat. Thousands of workers are expected to enroll over the coming months at the Port of Oakland and Port of San Francisco, which begins enrollment spring 2008. Nationwide, more than 1 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas will apply during the rest of 2007 and 2008.
