Coast Guard Resources News

In November the U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee held a hearing on “Commercial and Passenger Vessel Safety: Challenges and Opportunities.” Testimony covered a range of issues, from recent tragedies such as the Conception dive-boat disaster to antiquated maritime laws.Hearing witness list:Rear Admiral Richard V. Timme, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, United States Coast GuardThe Honorable Richard Balzano…

The U.S. Coast Guard has raised the decades-old monetary threshold for reporting marine casualties in order to keep pace with inflation and reduce reporting of minor incidents. The final rule changes, which were published March 19 and take effect April 18, 2018, lift the reportable marine casualty property damage threshold amount from $25,000 to $75,000 and raise the serious marine incident property damage threshold from $100,000 to $200,000. The original regulations that set these dollar threshold amounts had not been updated since they were written in the 1980s.

The U.S. Coast Guard is scheduled to discontinue 166 navigational aids within the Virginia Inside Passage (VIP) due to shoaling and other navigational safety concerns throughout the area. Fixed aids to navigation will be removed as Coast Guard resources permit over the next several years and will be listed under an Advance Notice in future Local Notice to Mariners. The decision follows a 2013 proposal, which identified 241 navigational aids for removal. The Army Corps of Engineers completed water surveys in 2015…

The year 2015 has been a busy year for The American Waterways Operators, the national trade association for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, and for the industry AWO is privileged to represent. It’s a dynamic time for a vital industry that constitutes the largest segment of the U.S. domestic fleet, as companies throughout the industry are investing heavily to meet evolving customer needs; the industry stands on the verge of historic regulatory change; and AWO pursues an active public policy agenda to support members’ needs for predictable and practicable government policy.

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Puget Sound investigating officers initiated civil penalties, Friday, against four individuals who entered an established safety-zone around a Shell-contracted vessel in Bellingham during Memorial Day weekend. Cody Erdman, Chiara D’Angelo, Paul Adler and Matthew Fuller were cited in accordance with Code of Federal Regulations for entry into or staying in a federally-regulated safety zone between May 22 and 24. USCG officials can seek a maximum civil penalty of $40,000 for each entry into the zone or day the individuals violated the zone. The final penalty will be determined by the Coast Guard Hearing Office in Arlington, Va. Hearing officers will be assigned and provide the individuals an opportunity to refute the charges or provide evidence on their behalf.

The answer to this question is a resounding “no.” The U.S. is not prepared to protect its interests in the Arctic over the next decade. The primary legal regime that is being relied upon by all members of the Arctic fraternity, the Law of the Sea Convention, has not been adopted by the U.S. The operational resources needed to pursue our interests have not been funded and there is currently little prospect that they will be funded in the near future. U.S. interests in the Arctic are vast.

Rear Admiral Joseph A. Servidio is Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy overseeing Inspections and Compliance, Marine Transportation Systems, and Commercial Regulations and Standards. Theses directorates include waterways management, navigation and boating safety, commercial vessels, ports and facilities, merchant mariner credentialing, vessel documentation, marine casualty investigation, inspections, and port state control. His previous assignments include numerous postings in marine inspection, marine safety and investigation billets. Servidio is a graduate of the U.

The Coast Guard suspends the search for two missing crewmembers, following the Black Elk platform explosion and fire. US Coast Guard crews searched a 1,400 square-mile area in the Gulf of Mexico around Grand Isle for more than 32 hours in an effort to locate the two missing crewmembers. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has established a team to investigate Friday's explosion and fire. The seven-member investigative team includes safety inspectors, engineers, safety management investigators, and law enforcement experts. The investigation report will include recommendations for initiatives to prevent a similar accident in the future. Later owners of the rig stated that one body had been recovered by divers hired by the company.

The Coast Guard announced the publication of a policy letter that exempts a number of mariners from the requirement to obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential when renewing or obtaining a Coast Guard-issued merchant mariner credential. The policy letter provides immediate relief for mariners who otherwise would need to obtain a TWIC to get or renew their Merchant Mariner Credential. The policy letter also provides the Coast Guard with an expedient means to comply with a portion of the requirements set forth in Section 809 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010. “These changes eliminate the TWIC requirement for…

To complement its existing safety inspection regime for foreign-flagged vessels operating in U.S. waters, the U.S. Coast Guard Friday announced an additional layer of risk-based safety oversight for mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) as part of an ongoing review of marine safety policies following the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, fire, and subsequent oil spill. Currently, U.S.- and foreign-flagged MODUs operating in U.S. waters undergo annual examinations to verify compliance with domestic laws, regulations and international conventions – ensuring that a vessel’s major systems are in compliance and that crew training and performance, such as lifesaving and firefighting drills, meet all applicable standards.

During the Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation hearing on President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Requests for the United States Coast Guard, United States Maritime Administration and Federal Maritime Commission, Chairman Elijah E. “The Subcommittee convenes today to examine the fiscal year 2010 budget requests for the Coast Guard, Federal Maritime Commission, and the federal Maritime Administration. The President has requested just under $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2010 to fund the U.S. Coast Guard. This request would provide an increase of approximately $371 million – 4.1 percent – over the service’s enacted fiscal year 2009 budget.

For the past several years, maritime security has been on everyone's mind. From the halls of Congress to the longshoremen working the midnight shift, the threat of a possible terrorist attack on the maritime interests of the United States and dealing with new security requirements have kept this topic on the front burner. While most in the maritime industry are relatively aware of the legislation that has been promulgated since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, new evolving legislation continues to be implemented. In this regard, the most recent legislation that addresses the continuing implementation of the maritime security regime is the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2008, HR 2830 (the "Bill").

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, convened the Subcommittee at the Ceremonial Courtroom at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore to examine the proposed development of a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal at Sparrow's Point in the Port of Baltimore. Witnesses included Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Governor Martin O'Malley, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith, as well as representatives of the United States Coast Guard, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the AES Sparrow's Point project, as well as two residents of the Sparrow's Point neighborhood. Following the hearing, Chairman Cummings released the following statement.

A Charleston-based Coast Guard cutter has been ordered to deploy overseas to support Operation Enduring Freedom and to prepare for future contingencies. USCGC Dallas (WHEC-716), a 378-foot high endurance cutter with a crew of about 175, was underway on patrol this past weekend when it received the order from the Atlantic Area commander here to head overseas. Dallas is deploying with an HH-65B Dolphin helicopter and 7-member aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J. The ship departed Charleston Feb. 8, patrolling and conducting training off the East coast of the United States prior to receiving deployment orders. The largest and most capable class of Coast Guard cutter, Dallas is deploying at the request of the Department of Defense as the U.S.