Tag: USCG

The US Congress passed a spending package last week under which the US Coast Guard will receive a US$675 million funding for new icebreakers. The USCG is namely receiving $655 million to start construction on the lead ship for a new class of Polar Security Cutters.

Oregon firefighters were battling flames on board the vessel St. Clair at the Port of Toledo, on February 16. The ship was moored in the Port for winter season repairs. No one was aboard, and there was no cargo on the vessel at the time of the fire. In addition, a helicopter crew and a pollution responder, aboard a helicopter carried out an aerial observation of the area on February 17 and found no pollution in the Maumee River.

USCG wrapped up a safety inspection at the Cameron Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, enabling it to move on to loading its first LNG cargo for global export.  Cameron LNG also submitted its Marine Operations Manual and Emergency Manual to the Coast Guard for examination.

The Senate passed, on February 14, a compromise package to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. President Donald Trump signed it, which resulted to ending what would be a second government shutdown. Amongst other results, the announcement means that the USCG members will most likely continue receiving pay, along with federal employees.

The research vessel 'Hugin Explorer' found a 57-year-old mariner in distress, approximately 230 miles offshore of Galveston, Texas, Wednesday. USCG Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report from the crew of the 'Hugin Explorer' stating the sailing vessel 'Pomodoro' was taking on water and in need of assistance.

12th February marks 36 years after a major marine casualty in US waters, which changed USCG marine safety procedures. On the aftermath of the tragedy, which claimed lives of 31 crewmen, the US Coast Guard tightened its inspections of 20-year or older ships and initiated the rescue swimmer program, among others.

The US Coast Guard Marine Safety Center received its 23rd application for Ballast Water Management System type approval for the HK-S(E) Ballast Water Management System manufactured by Japanese Miura Co., Ltd. Last week, USCG awarded the 16th type approval certificate to Envirocleanse LLC. 

The US Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 45-foot pleasure craft 'Sea You Twerk' with 14 passengers aboard Sunday in Biscayne Bay, Miami, after discovering multiple safety violations. With this respect, USCG reiterated potential fines for illegal charter vessel operations. 

The US Coast Guard announced it is withdrawing two notices of proposed rulemaking based on findings that the proposed rules are no longer appropriate to the current state of spill response in the chemical industry. USCG aims to better analyze the current spill response capabilities of the chemical industry before conducting any further rulemaking.

The Coast Guard International Ice Patrol announced that it's starting operations for the 2019 ice season as from February 5, 2019 and will resume production of the North American Ice Service (NAIS) daily iceberg warning products from its operations center in New London, Connecticut. NAIS provides iceberg warning from February to August, in the timeframe when icebergs are a great threat to transatlantic shipping.