uscg – Page 3 – Pacific Maritime Magazine

28 Feb

Coast Guard Seeks Comment on Navigation for Portage Bay Bridge

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online News, Terminal Operationsportagebridge, seattle, uscg

The U.S. Coast Guard is asking the public, and mariners in particular, to weigh in on navigation at Portage Bay Bridge in Seattle. The agency has issued a public notice for Washington Department of Transportation’s request to replace the bridge near Lake Union and is looking for vessel and facility owners and operators and others in the maritime community to discuss navigation needs that the proposed bridge project should meet. “This includes but is not limited to mariners' requirements for horizontal and vertical navigation clearances, placement of bridge protective systems, bridge lighting systems and various other safety measures,” the agency…

21 Feb

USCG Cutter Kimball Completes Training Exercises with Japan Coast Guard

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newscutter, kimball, uscg

Honolulu-homeported U.S. Coast Guard cutter Kimball has left Kagoshima, Japan after participating in a days-long joint training exercise with the Japan Coast Guard, U.S. officials said Feb. 16. Members from both agencies engaged in several search-and-rescue exercises and other activities in Kagoshima Bay, including “collaborative mission planning, boat handling and helicopter operations, and demonstrated techniques for locating, recovering and hoisting a simulated distressed swimmer.” The U.S. Coast Guard command also visited the Japan Coast Guard’s 10th Regional Headquarters and gave tours of the cutter to several Japan Coast Guard members and the community. The events nurture the newly inked memorandum of cooperation…

14 Feb

Removal Planned for Tug Submerged at National Guard Dock in Alaska

Pacific Maritime MagazineNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newsalaska, tugboat, uscg

Weather permitting, work to remove a partly submerged tugboat at the National Guard Dock in Gastineau Channel, Alaska, was expected to be underway this month, the U.S. Coast Guard said Feb. 7. The Coast Guard contracted salvage firm Melino’s Marine Services to perform the work of removing the tug by using a barge and crane system that came from Bellingham. Once removed, the tug is expected to be moved by barge to an out-of-state disposal site. The tug had been partly submerged with an oil sheen since at least Dec. 29 when Coast Guard Sector Juneau first received word on…

31 Jan

National Maritime Center Now Accepting Electronically Signed Documents

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newsedocuments, nmc, uscg

In an effort to improve services for mariners, the National Maritime Center can now accept electronic signatures on CG-719 series forms and all supporting documentation for merchant mariner credentials, medical certificates and course approvals, the NMC announced Jan. 23. Mariner applicants may use software-generated electronic signatures such as Microsoft Word, and Adobe Acrobat on CG-719 forms and other supporting materials including, “but not limited to, sea service, assessments, mariner training documentation and qualified assessor and designated examiner requests,” according to the NMC. “E-mailing your application and e-signing your documents is the preferred method for submission,” according to NMC. However, any…

27 Dec

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star Heads to Antarctica

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newspolarstar, uscg

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Star is on its way to Antarctica to support Operation Deep Freeze 2023, its 26th voyage to the continent. Operation Deep Freeze is a joint mission to replenish the U.S. Antarctic stations of the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Antarctic Program’s lead agency. The crew, which left its homeport in Seattle on Nov. 16, made a four-day stop at Hobart, Australia, before leaving Dec. 21 across the Southern Ocean. In Hobart, crew members hosted guests from the Australian Antarctic Division, Australian Border Force, Tasmanian government officials and others, USCG said. “The reception was a…

20 Dec

Coast Guard Station Honolulu Partners on Search-Rescue Training Course

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newshonolulu, searchandrescue, uscg

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Station Honolulu teamed up with the Hawaii Department of Transportation Airport Division Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Unit for five days of training with the National Association of Boat Law Administrators’ Boat Operator for Search and Rescue course, the agency revealed Dec. 14. Developed to standardize the training, qualification, credentialing and typing process for maritime first responders, the course centered around “on-the-water risk management, team coordination, navigation, search patterns, rescue and towing,” according to the Coast Guard. This helps strengthen the working relationship between the USCG and the firefighting unit, the first responding agencies in…

20 Dec

Fishing Boat Fuel Spill Cleanup Underway on Santa Cruz Island

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newssperanzamarie, uscg

Crews are working to contain and clean up diesel fuel spilling out of a 60-foot fishing boat that ran aground on Santa Cruz Island on Dec. 15, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. At about 2 a.m., members of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach watchstanders were alerted to a report from Vessel Assist Ventura about f/v Speranza Marie, which ran aground in Chinese Harbor on Santa Cruz Island. The boat was carrying six people and about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, according to the Guard. A unified command was created by the Coast Guard, California Department of Fish and…

06 Dec

USCG Cutter Bertholf Returns from 77-Day Patrol

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newsbertholf, cutter, uscg

After more than 18,000 nautical miles and 77 days on patrol, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bertholf returned to Alameda, Calif. from a trek through the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Guard announced Dec. 3. During that time, the 418-foot Legend-class national security cutter engaged in drug enforcement, including the boardings of several suspected drug-smuggling vessels that resulted in detaining a number of suspected drug smugglers and the interdiction of over 1,050 pounds of cocaine, according to the Coast Guard. This was done while providing enforcement off the Central and South America coasts in support of Joint Interagency…

02 Dec

Coast Guard Extends Proposed Base Seattle Expansion Public Input Period

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newsbaseseattle, uscg

The U.S. Coast Guard is giving stakeholders more time to weigh in on an environmental document for the proposed expansion of Coast Guard Base Seattle. The Guard has extended the deadline for public input on the project’s Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement to Dec. 16. The original deadline was Dec. 2. The goal of the draft statement is to investigate possible “environmental and socioeconomic impacts, and identifies related mitigation measures, associated with land acquisition, facility and infrastructure modernization, and continued operation to support current and future Coast Guard missions at Base Seattle,” according to the agency. The full document is available…

29 Nov

Coast Guard Rescues Mariners Stranded Near Santa Cruz Island

Karen Robes MeeksNews, News Briefs, PMM Online Newsrescue, uscg

A pair of stranded mariners were able to make it home for Thanksgiving with help from the U.S. Coast Guard, the agency said Friday, Nov. 25. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles–Long Beach command center were alerted to an activated Digital Selective Calling (DSC) distress signal near Santa Cruz at 10 a.m. on Nov. 24. After making radio calls on VHF Channel 16, watchstanders figured out that the signal was coming from sailing vessel LULA, which ran aground in the area. Coast Guard officials deployed a helicopter from Forward Operating Base Point Mugu and a 45-foot response vessel…