Coast Guard

Fingerprints Help Apprehend and Deter Illegal Migrants Attempting U.S. Entry

February 29, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - The U.S. Coast Guard and US-VISIT announced today the expansion of their successful biometrics-at-sea program to the south Florida Straits.    » read more »

Urges Coast Guard to update contingency plan for San Francisco area

February 7, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on the Coast Guard to strengthen standards for preparedness and recovery in the wake of the Cosco Busan oil spill. Senator Feinstein urged the Commandant of the Coast Guard to update the prepared contingency plan for the San Francisco area.

Senator Feinstein also urged the Coast Guard to require that all ships carrying a large amount of fuel be double-hulled.    » read more »

Feb. 4, 2008 -- Crewmembers from the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant interdicted 131 Haitian migrants aboard a grossly overloaded sail-freighter Saturday, 35 miles west of Great Inagua, Bahamas. (USCG photo)

MIAMI - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant repatriated 131 Haitian migrants to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday.

Valiant's crew located a Haitian sail-freighter with an unknown number of people aboard while conducting a law-enforcement patrol about 35 miles west of Great Inagua, Bahamas, Saturday morning.    » read more »

February 4, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard released today its 2009 posture statement which includes its strategies for success in the maritime domain, fiscal year 2009 budget in brief and fiscal year 2007 performance summary.    » read more »

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The crew of the 210-foot Coast Guard Cutter Diligence, homeported in Wilmington, N.C., helped interdict two suspected drug smugglers and seized 4,400 pounds of cocaine off the Nicaragua coast Jan. 23.

The Diligence crew launched a boat crew from the cutter and began pursuing the go-fast transiting west toward Nicaragua. A maritime law enforcement team with the 270-foot Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, homeported in Portsmouth, Va., also chased the vessel.    » read more »

January 31, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - - The U.S. Coast Guard formalized a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy to establish a cooperative, collaborative relationship to share best-practices as each of the services work toward modernizing their business practices.    » read more »

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - U. S. Coast Guard (USCG), California Department of Fish and Game's (DFG) Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), and contracted response crews continue to cleanup tar balls and assess beaches from Pacifica to Carmel.

DFG and USCG are responding as a unified command and will continue to evaluate impacts to wildlife and the environment this evening and tomorrow. Cleanup operations will continue tomorrow with six shoreline cleanup and assessment teams (SCAT) and seven 12-person cleanup crews.    » read more »

January 28, 2008 -- Washington, D.C.— House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement in response to today’s release of the Coast Guard’s Incident Specific Preparedness Review assessing their response to November’s oil spill in San Francisco Bay:    » read more »

New York - A unified command with representatives from the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock LLC (the owner of the Dredge New York), Coast Guard Sector New York, New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NY DEC), New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) and the vessel Orange Sun continue to monitor the repair and recovery of a damaged dredge vessel after a collision with a freight ship in Newark Bay Thursday.    » read more »

Jan 27, 2008 -- SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Coast Guard is responding to a diesel fuel spill from a fishing vessel that ran aground in Floyds Creek south of Brunswick, Ga., Saturday.

The fishing vessel Little David contacted the Coast Guard after running aground, and a Marine Safety Unit Savannah pollution response team was immediately dispatched to the scene.

Coast Guard personnel found a diesel sheen in the water next to the vessel taking on water. All of Little David's crew had been safely removed and were not on-scene when the pollution response team arrived.    » read more »

Announces Plans to Introduce Legislation to Improve Federal Response and Recovery Efforts for Oil Spills

January 28, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today expressed her disappointment in the preliminary report issued today by the Coast Guard on the Cosco Busan incident. Senator Feinstein announced that she plans to introduce legislation to improve federal response and recovery efforts for oil spills.

“Today, the Coast Guard released a preliminary report of the Cosco Busan spill.    » read more »

January 28, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) made the following statement on a report released today on the Coast Guard’s response to the November 7, 2007 Cosco Busan accident that resulted in more than 58,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel spilling into the San Francisco Bay.

Boxer said, “I welcome the report of the ISPR Team, because I believe it is critical that we learn from the mistakes made during the response to this spill and ensure that they are not repeated.    » read more »

BOSTON - The Coast Guard aided a scallop boat crew today when their boat lost steering ability in frigid waters about 15 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Faced with 10-15 foot seas, 40-knot gusts and and icing conditions, the crew aboard the Charlotte Jean II radioed Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England at about 4 a.m., when their gear failed.

The sector dispatched the Coast Guard Cutter Sanibel, which arrived at about 8:45 a.m., and took the New Bedford, Mass.-based boat in tow.    » read more »

Jan. 26, 2008 -- MIAMI - The Coast Guard is searching for a boater who disappeared from his vessel three miles east of Key Largo, Fla., Saturday afternoon.

Two good Samaritans just off Elliot Key, Fla., located a 25-foot boat with no one aboard heading toward their vessel. They managed to stop the vessel and, after going onboard, located a cellular phone. They called the last number dialed and spoke with a person claiming to be the father of the suspected missing boater, Dan Stonionis, 45.    » read more »

12/18/2007 -- Washington, DC – Senator John Kerry today questioned Admiral Thad Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard about why the Coast Guard continues to work to undermine state efforts to protect Massachusetts waterways. In response to the 2003 Buzzards Bay oil spill, Massachusetts enacted the Oil Spill Prevention Act of 2004 which required an escort tug for large vessels and required a state pilot that knows the waterway to help steer a barge.    » read more »