Coast Guard Warns of Sea Attack

Associated Press ^ | Monday, June 10, 2002; 6:23 PM

[Asmodeus]

WASHINGTON –– Ports and ships are operating under heightened security after the Coast Guard warned of a possible terrorist attack by either swimmers or divers.

Cmdr. Jim McPherson, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, said Monday the warning was issued over the weekend after the agency received reports of a possible attack. The Bush administration warned last month of possible terrorist activity by scuba divers.

The new warning went to local Coast Guard units, who then notified port authorities, marine patrols and the maritime industry, he said, and added that the Coast Guard offered specific actions that ports could do to increase security.

McPherson would not elaborate on the nature of the warning nor the security measures.

Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge said during the weekend that al-Qaida was interested in training terrorists to attack ports and ships.

McPherson asked anyone noticing suspicious maritime activity should call the Coast Guard at 1-800-424-8802.

In a related matter, McPherson said the Coast Guard planned to transport bomb-sniffing dogs by helicopter to ships at sea, lower them and their handlers by cable to the ship, and have them look for explosives. This will be part of the agency's new maritime security team to be formed this summer. In addition, inspectors now trained to look for hazardous materials will be asked to also check for explosives or chemical weapons, McPherson said.

[lsee]

Yah, and they can store their gear in one of those "surplus" lighthouses the government is prepared to give away.....

[ex-Texan]

Also heard that M.E. ships may have been modified to launch SCUD missles from about 300 miles off shore ....

[WIMom]

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[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Coast Guard Auxiliary Members PING

[shaggy eel]

ping

[My Favorite Headache]

re-breather ping

[Poohbah]

Randomly tossing C-4 blocks into the water ping...

[cmsgop]

Me Dropping my 4 Egg Mc Muffins in a Mc Donalds parking lot in front of the entire Drive Thru PING!

[WellsFargo94]

Also, among many different scenarios to contemplate, I hope we won't see another oil spill (or worse) off the coast of anywhere. Thanks to you and yours for your dedication and hard work. Folks often don't realize, or they forget, about the incredibly hard work (and danger) that goes along with being in the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserves.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

You're on the front line again Tonk.

[CGASMIA68]

"Semper Paratus"

"Ya got to go out,but ya dont have to come back"

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

United States Coast Guard role under the new Department of Homeland Security proposal.

In order to secure our nation’s territorial waters, including our ports and waterways, the Department would assume authority over the United States Coast Guard, which would maintain its existing independent identity as a military organization under the leadership of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. Upon declaration of war or when the President so directs, the Coast Guard would operate as an element of the Department of Defense, consistent with existing law.

The U.S. Coast Guard is charged with regulatory, law enforcement, humanitarian, and emergency response duties. It is responsible for the safety and security of America’s inland waterways, ports, and harbors; more than 95,000 miles of U.S. coastlines; U.S. territorial seas; 3.4 million square miles of ocean defining our Exclusive Economic Zones; as well as other maritime regions of importance to the United States.

The Coast Guard has command responsibilities for countering potential threats to America’s coasts, ports, and inland waterways through numerous port security, harbor defense, and coastal warfare operations and exercises. In the name of port security specifically, the Coast Guard has broad authority in the nation’s ports as “Captain of the Port.” Recently the Coast Guard has worked to establish near shore and port domain awareness, and to provide an offshore force gathering intelligence and interdicting suspicious vessels prior to reaching U.S. shores.

[BigBlueJon]

I know that this is a very serious situation, but I just had the most funniest vision of a half dozen greasey terrorists each strapping on 80 or so pounds of explosives and scuba equipment and slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Blub..blub..blub..gasp!

[snippy_about_it]

Stay safe.

[dr_who]

Ooh! Appropriations! Want some! Want some! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

[sam_paine]

Also heard that M.E. ships may have been modified to launch SCUD missles from about 300 miles off shore ....

Such a strike would be a blank-check wake up call for the defense industry to hurry production of ABM systems, wouldn't it. Hmmmmm....I hear a Clancy Movie plot.

[Arkinsaw]

A blast from our Clinton Past

Coast Guard trims patrols due to pinch
Monday, May 29, 2000

SEABROOK, Texas -- Coast Guard boats that should be patrolling the Texas coast for safety violations are docked in Galveston. In Houston, helicopters that usually fly daily searches for drug smugglers are on the ground.

All along the Texas coast and into the Midwest, rising fuel costs have forced the Coast Guard to cut back nearly every type of patrol but search-and-rescue missions by about 25 percent, officials said.

"I had no other recourse," said Rear Adm. Paul Pluta, whose 8th Coast Guard District covers 26 states and includes 1,200 miles of Gulf Coast and 10,300 miles of navigable rivers.

Oil prices have increased dramatically in recent months, reaching $34 a barrel in March, almost $10 higher than in January. Prices were down to about $28 a barrel this month, but the Coast Guard still needs more money to make up for higher costs.

In the Pacific Northwest, Chief Warrant Officer Chris Haley said yesterday that the shortage is theoretical, so far. But he said his 13th District was fortunate that it had some financial cushion built in.

"They've told us to be prepared for operational cuts, and right now we're looking at our budget to see where we can cut, what we can cut, and still provide the best service to the public," Haley said.

The Coast Guard in the Northwest has not made any budget cuts yet, and a federal supplemental budget may make cuts unnecessary, Haley said. However, even if cuts are needed, he said, the Coast Guard in Seattle will try to ensure that search and rescue and other "consumer" services will not be affected.

For the 8th District, covering the cost of the higher fuel prices would take between $700,000 and $1.3 million, Pluta said. It's just the latest funding problem for a Coast Guard that's still using boats and planes dating back to the Vietnam era and before, he said.

Congress may appropriate more money to make up for the shortfall, but it could take weeks, Pluta said.

"With all the budget surplus out there, the Coast Guard should be given the money to do their job," said Frank Reynolds, 51, who keeps a 54-foot motorboat in Seabrook.

The cutbacks will mean fewer patrols for boating-safety violations, less frequent maintenance of channel markers and less time spent enforcing environmental regulations for fishing and shrimping boats, officials said.

In Galveston, the marine safety unit has reduced offshore flights and consolidated harbor patrols from three days a week to one, Lt. Marie Byrd said. In general, Coast Guard units have stopped routine safety patrols, but are responding to any reports of wrongdoing, Byrd said.

The effects stretch beyond the Texas coast.

"If the buoys aren't maintained, it could cause us problems," said Dave Harms of Lake City, Minn., who boats on the upper Mississippi River. "The barges are having enough trouble with low waters."

Shrimper Jody Collins, 53, said a lessening of the Coast Guard's presence around Seabrook may not be such a bad thing. Shrimpers already comply with environmental regulations, he said, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department duplicates many Coast Guard services, anyway.

"This is just a way for the Coast Guard to get more money," he said.

In his State of the Coast Guard address in March, Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral James Loy, said he was working with Congress and government agencies to increase funding.

The Coast Guard is feeling the pinch and that could mean more cutbacks, Jack O'Dell, a Coast Guard spokesman in Washington, said yesterday.

"People don't realize we have 3,400 people patrolling 144,000 miles of shoreline," O'Dell said. "If it's not a life-threatening situation, we have to ask how much involvement from the Coast Guard there should be."

[Alberta's Child]

Fitting all U.S. cargo ships with generators that allow them to send a few thousand volts of electricity into the surrounding waters every two minutes PING!

[A Navy Vet]

Yeah, I saw Tonk. Looks like I'm going to have to transfer to a different Flotilla. Mine has a boat deficit. Guess I'll have to drive further so as to make the Long Beach/LA Harbor patrols.