Important Marine Transportation News

Maintaining the system of buoys and beacons that guide mariners through our nation’s waterways is the United States Coast Guard’s oldest mission. Tracing its roots to the ninth law passed by Congress in 1790 that moved lighthouses under Federal control, the U.S. Lighthouse Service and its vast portfolio of buoys, beacons, buoy tenders and lightships were a founding part of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939. Along with the mission, many of the beacons the Coast Guard maintains today date back centuries.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) is expanding its traditional National Maritime Day ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 22, to honor living maritime heroes as well as merchant mariners who lost their lives in service to the nation. Since 1971, MARAD has held an annual U.S. Merchant Marine Memorial Service to honor American seafarers who have lost their lives in wartime service. During World War II alone, 733 American vessels were sunk, and nearly 6,000 merchant seamen and officers died as a result of enemy action and war-related causes. Their sacrifices often are overlooked during Memorial Day ceremonies.