Do you have energy saving compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) on your bridge?  The Coast Guard says you should consider removing them.  The lights use an RF lighting device that has been known to cause interference on communications equipment.  The FCC has recognized the interference problem and will now be requiring manufacturers to provide a warning [...]

I came across this last night while watching “Shadow Forces” on the History Channel. Are social privateers going to be the solution to some of the most dangerous threats on the high seas today? Here I was watching a rag tag group of ex-military/special forces, a few brave soles, and a rusty West African fishing boat performing fisheries enforcement boardings off the coast of Liberia, and performing them successfully too! I was blown away.

Don’t be left at the gate without a job. Remember, April 15th was the deadline for all U.S. credentialed mariners to obtain and possess a Transportation Workers Identification Card – TWIC. The Coast Guard is now enforcing the TWIC requirement, and therefore all designated waterfront facilities will deny access to those without a TWIC card. If you are a longshoreman, port facility worker, or truck driver needing unescorted access to a designated waterfront facility, you will also need a TWIC.

For those keeping up with vessel tracking technology, Bryant’s Maritime Blog alerts us that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on the review of vessel tracking systems used by the Coast Guard.  Specifically, the report focuses on the duplication of data that the two primary long range tracking methods provide which include [...]

USCG Press Release In what seems to be something straight out of a Jules Verne novel, the Coast Guard and Navy have interdicted two vessels that are termed self-propelled, semi-submersibles.  Essentially these are boats that are desgned to have a very small profile above water to avoid radar and visual detection.  They are used to run [...]