USCG Cutter Stratton Returns From 111-Day Alaskan Deployment

USCG Cutter Stratton Returns From 111-Day Alaskan Deployment

After 111 days deployed to the Bering Sea, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Stratton returned to her Alameda, Calif. homeport on April 22. Crew members, who left Alameda on Jan. 2, were deployed to support search and rescue activities and guard the nation’s northernmost boundaries. While in the Alaskan region, the Stratton crew supported USCG Air Station Kodiak’s MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and aircrews and finished 363 helicopter landings with crew members. They assisted in helicopter training and bolstering search and rescue capabilities, including landing shipboard, on-deck fueling and in-flight refueling, the agency said. Stratton crew members also conducted 18 boardings…
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USCG Launching New Merchant Mariner Credential Format

USCG Launching New Merchant Mariner Credential Format

Starting March 1, the U.S. Coast Guard plans to issue merchant mariner credentials in a new format that replaces the red passport-style book with related endorsement labels, according to the National Maritime Center. “The complexity and degraded reliability of the custom printers used to print the (credential) books necessitated a change to the credential printing process,” according to USCG, adding that the new credentials are going to be “printed on readily available commercial desktop laser jet printers and will vastly improve print services and availability.” The new format is expected to be on 8.5-inch by 11-inch “waterproof and tear-resistant synthetic…
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USCG Sector Puget Sound Launches Effort to Curb Vessel Traffic’s Impact on Whales

USCG Sector Puget Sound Launches Effort to Curb Vessel Traffic’s Impact on Whales

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound is engaging in a four-year pilot program that is expected to help minimize the vessel traffic impact on endangered whales in the Salish Sea, the agency announced Feb. 21. Hosted in the Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), the program allows for the Coast Guard to get whale sighting reports from mariners and give close to real-time information on whale locations to mariners through a whale report alert system, according to the Guard. The Coast Guard said that it plans to work closely with international, federal, tribal and state entities as well as…
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Coast Guard Halting Seasonal Sound Signals at Umpqua River South Jetty, Yaquina Bay

Coast Guard Halting Seasonal Sound Signals at Umpqua River South Jetty, Yaquina Bay

The U.S. Coast Guard is planning to discontinue the seasonal Sound Signal audio navigation aids at Umpqua River South Jetty Sound Signal and Yaquina Bay, both in Oregon, at the end of the 2024 spring installation, the agency announced Feb. 7. The Coast Guard is seeking public feedback on the new changes and on the performance and operation of navigation aids. Meanwhile, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River is expected to continue receiving reports of any discrepancies to this and other navigation aids, the agency said. “The U.S. Coast Guard values the input of the maritime community and remains dedicated…
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Port of Long Beach Appoints New Security Chief

Port of Long Beach Appoints New Security Chief

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Ryan Manning is expected to helm the Port of Long Beach’s Security Division beginning this spring. The port announced Jan. 22 that its Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved Manning’s appointment to lead the Security Division, which is responsible for providing portwide safety and security and collaborating with various agencies on those efforts. Manning is expected to start in his new role after March, when he retires as the Guard’s captain of the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach, and Commander of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach. In that role, Manning oversees 550 active duty, reserve…
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USCG Cutter Midgett Returns from 129-Day Alaska Deployment

USCG Cutter Midgett Returns from 129-Day Alaska Deployment

After 129 days on patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Midgett has returned to its homeport in Honolulu, the agency announced Jan. 12. During its deployment, the crew of the 418-foot National Security Cutter engaged in readiness training in and near Southern California and a 50-day patrol in the Bering Sea. There, the cutter carried out the agency’s Arctic Strategic Outlook goals within the 17th Coast Guard District area of responsibility and provided fishery law enforcement for the $13.9 billion Alaskan fishing industry, including the completion of 10 federal fisheries boardings. The Midgett is the only U.S. maritime military service…
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USCG Cutter Polar Star Heads to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze

USCG Cutter Polar Star Heads to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Star has embarked on its 27th year in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the Guard said Nov. 16. The cutter has left its homeport of Seattle and headed to Antarctica for Deep Freeze, a yearly joint military effort to replenish the U.S. Antarctic stations supporting the National Science Foundation, which is the U.S. Antarctic Program’s lead agency. Every year, the cutter crunches through ice to create a path that enables fuel and supply vessels to access McMurdo Station, the U.S. Antarctic Program’s logistical hub and the biggest Antarctic station. “Operation Deep Freeze is a…
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USCG Shuts Down Illegal San Diego Charter Operation

USCG Shuts Down Illegal San Diego Charter Operation

U.S. Coast Guard members recently shut down an illegal charter operation in San Diego’s La Jolla State Marine Reserve protected area, the agency announced Oct. 4. Operation of the Lucky Duck, a 20-foot, state-registered pleasure vessel with six people aboard, including one child, was terminated after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted a boarding Sept. 21 and found the operator violated state laws. Violations include failing to hire “an appropriately credentialed mariner” and failing to have a drug and alcohol program, according to the Coast Guard. “The Coast Guard will continue to pursue vessel operators who put the…
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Post-Maui Wildfire Cleanup Underway

Post-Maui Wildfire Cleanup Underway

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Sept. 26 that the first phase of a multi-phase plan is underway to remove pollution and hazardous material in the aftermath of the Aug. 8 wildfire in Maui. More than 2,100 gallons of product from vessels have been removed from around Lahaina Harbor by members of the Coast Guard, the Hawaii Department of Health and the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation and contractor Global Diving & Salvage. Global Diving workers who surveyed Lahaina Harbor are said to be refining a plan for the removal of hazardous product…
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Coast Guard to Detail Proposed Soil Cleanup at Washington’s Point No Point Light Station

Coast Guard to Detail Proposed Soil Cleanup at Washington’s Point No Point Light Station

The U.S. Coast Guard is inviting the public to a Sept. 21 open house to talk about potential efforts to clean up lead-contaminated soil at the Point No Point Light Station in Hansville, Wash. The Coast Guard performed a site assessment in 2018 and said that it found “elevated concentrations of lead in the soil around the perimeter of the four existing light station buildings” that likely stem from the use of lead-based paint on the buildings. The agency is expected to lead the soil cleanup that is set to start in early 2024 and take about a month to…
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