A couple of items in case you missed them. The President’s message to the Coast Guard, and photos from a memorial ceremony at Grand Haven two days ago.
Happy Coast Guard Day
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Author Archives: Chuck Hill
Coast Guard Adopts Ozone Widget Format
fiercehomelandsecurity.com is reporting that the Coast Guard has adopted the NSA’s “Ozone” widget framework to be used as part of the Watchkeeper port security information sharing network. Perhaps this means something to some of you. I have only a very foggy notion what a widget is, and only because there are some widgets used on this web site.
But there is also some disturbing information also included in the post.
The Coast Guard has acknowledged difficulty in convincing port security agencies to utilize WatchKeeper. During a September subcommittee hearing, Stephen Caldwell, Government Accountability Office director of homeland security and justice issues, noted that research for a February 2012 report (.pdf) found that 82 percent of those given access to WatchKeeper “had never even logged on.”
Icebreaker Fleets of the World
The US Naval Institute News has published a chart, prepared by the USCG, listing their best estimate of the world icebreaker fleets. Ships are listed by country, horsepower class, and year the ship entered service. Ships under construction or planned are also listed.
Only ships of more than 10,000 Brake Horse Power (7,457 MW), capable of independent Arctic operation, are included. There are notations to indicate nuclear propulsion, whether the ship has made it to the North Pole, whether it is government owned, and if the ship is designed specifically for the Baltic.
Snippets from the News
A couple of items that might be of interest.
If there was any doubt about the viciousness of the drug wars in Mexico, this ought to clarify things: Recently a Mexican Navy Vice Admiral was ambushed and murdered.
The Italian Coast Guard launches the first of two new ships. Relatively large at 310 feet long and 3,600 tons full load, but not nearly as capable as the projected Offshore Patrol Cutter, to me this looks like an adaptation of an oil industry Offshore Support Vessel. Most interesting feature is electric propulsion. Raytheon’s integrated bridge system might also be interesting, but there are no details in the story. Reasonable question is, can they can function effectively with a crew of only 38 or do they need additional augmentation for each mission. Apparently they can routinely berth up to 60 in addition to the crew, and up to 600 additional in case of an emergency. This last is a reflection of Italy’s Alien Migrant Interdiction problem.
Well Blowout Gulf of Mexico
There has been another well blow out and fire in the Gulf of Mexico. Unlike Deepwater Horizon there were apparently no personnel casualties and this is in relatively shallow water (154 feet) 55 miles off Louisiana. Report here from gCaptain.
S. Korea Transfers Ship to Colombia for Drug Enforcement
MarineForum, 23 July, is reporting
“The Colombian navy will be given a decommissioned (in service 1983, out of service 2011) South Korean corvette …for anti-drug operations … part of South Korean plans to boost arms exports to Latin America) (rmks: dates given seem to indicate DONG HAE class 755 AN YANG)
Coast Guard units may have an opportunity to work with this vessel. Here are the specs for the ship found in Wikipedia. No helicopter deck, but perhaps that might be changed, otherwise looks like a good addition for drug enforcement.
| Displacement: | 1,076 tonnes (1,059 long tons; 1,186 short tons) |
| Length: | 78.1 m (256 ft 3 in) |
| Beam: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: | CODOG unit |
| Speed: | Maximum: 31 knots (57 km/h) Cruising: 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Range: | 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km) |
| Crew: | 95 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
EDO 786 hull mounted sonar |
| Armament: | • 1 × OTO Melara 76 mm/62 compact cannon • 2× Emerson 30mm twin guns • 1× Bofors 40mm/56 twin guns • 2× Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes (with 6× Mark 46 torpedoes) • 12× Mark 9 depth charges |
Proposed New Maritime Patrol Aircraft for Canada
The Canadian American Strategic Review has information on a proposed new maritime Patrol Aircraft that would use components of the US Navy’s P-8 including its radar in a Canadian build Challenger 605 bizjet airframe.
Canada Refuses to Accept Maritime Helicopters from Sikorsky
The Coast Guard has had its share of acquisition problems, but it seems the Canadians may be having more than their fair share (submarines, replenishment vessels, shipbuilding programs in general). They have been attempting to replace their Seaqking ASW helicopter and selected Sikorsky–usually a safe choice. Instead of a smooth transition, they have had repeated delays and disappointments. DefenseNews reports on the latest chapter.
These are admittedly more complex than SAR helos, but note that the Seakings they are replacing are the same generation as the HH-3Fs the Coast Guard replaced decades ago.
NAVAIR and CG Work ISR Interoperability
Defense Industry Daily provided the video above with the encouraging news that NAVAIR and the Coast Guard are working together to develop an open architecture system that will permit real time data link of “video and metadata” including the ability of, what I believe is a Response Boat, Medium, to take control of the camera on the airborne Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) asset.
Panamanians Seize N. Korean ship with Hidden Cargo
CNN reports there is a bit of a drama going on in Panama as the authorities there seized a N. Korean vessel attempting to transit the canal with undeclared weapon systems components, believed to part of an air to surface missile system. They are still unloading the ship and more may be found. Apparently the crew of the ship attempted to resist the boarding.
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