Coast Guard to Commission Coastal Patrol Boat
The Coast Guard Cutter Pompano, an 87-ft. Coastal Patrol Boat, will be commissioned into service in a ceremony at Coast Guard Station Gulfport on December 14 at 10 a.m. The Pompano, homported in Gulfport, is a new Marine Protector Class vessel capable of performing search and rescue, law enforcement, fisheries patrols, drug interdiction, and alien interdiction duties up to 200 miles offshore. Key speakers at the ceremony include Mississippi Rep. Ronnie Shows, and the Eighth Coast Guard District Commander, Rear Adm. Roy J. Casto. Lt. Daniel Jones, commanding officer of the Pompano, will lead a crew of 10. The Marine Protector Class is designed to replace the aging 82-ft. Point Class cutters.
F/V Pinnacle Delivered by Tri-Star Marine
Jensen Maritime Consultants, Inc. (JMC), recently completed the design for new 140 x 38 ft. F/V Pinnacle. The Seattle naval architecture firm designed the new vessel for Walt Casto of Snohomish, Wash. Tri-Star Marine, Seattle, delivered the vessel to the owner in February 1999. In late 1997, Walt Casto met with HMC to discuss the prospects of building a new vessel. The original Pinnacle, built at Homeport Marine Services, Moss Point, Miss. in 1991, was to be sold to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a fisheries patrol vessel. Casto wanted to replace the existing vessel with a JMC design of similar capacity and length. A previous 114 ft. JMC design was used as a basis and significantly expanded and modified to fit the design parameters.
CG Air Station Crews Honored
The Coast Guard Unit Commendation will be awarded to the men and women of Air Station New Orleans at a ceremony on Thursday at the Naval Air Station in Belle Chasse. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans will receive the award for exceptionally meritorious service from July 5, 2000 to February 28, 2002 for the execution of numerous search and rescue, Homeland Security, Marine Environmental Protection, and Presidential support missions throughout the Eighth District. Within the time frame cited air station crews have prosecuted 600 search and rescue missions, saving 160 lives, assisting 162 others, and preserving $3.3 million in property. Since the inception of the air station in 1955, air station helicopter crews have saved over 3500 lives.
Coast Guard, AWO Members Meet in Branson
Commanding Officers conference. At the meeting, Admiral Casto and his staff outlined Coast Guard proposals to reorganize the Eighth District, splitting much of the inland rivers and the Gulf Coast into two separate regions. The proposal would have the effect of recreating the old Second District, which was closed in a cost cutting measure in 1996. As a part of the previous reorganization effort, staff levels were cut. For instance, prior to 1995, the old Eighth District had Marine Safety Division staff of 27 people to cover the Gulf Coast. Today the division has only 25 people to cover the Gulf Coast and all of the inland system. Admiral Casto said that the new security responsibilities of the Coast Guard make the current structure unworkable.
