MarineLink is reporting Argentina has recently completed repairs on their only icebreaker, ARA Almirante Irizar.

There are some remarkable parallels between USCGC Polar Sea and Argentina’s Icebreaker, ARA Almirante Irizar. They are essentially the same size (length and beam within a foot and the same draft) and the same age (both commissioned in the late ’70s). The Polar class ships have much greater horsepower with their gas-turbine engines, but their diesel horsepower is very similar. Both have been out of service for years. The Polar Sea since 2010 after failure of five of her six diesel engines. The Almirante Irizar since 2007 after a serious fire.

Sounds like the required repairs were quite extensive. Not surprisingly it cost more that initially expected and repairs included enhancements rather than just a restoration of the previous configuration.

As the Coast Guard looks at the Polar Sea, we will also likely want to incorporate some changes.

The Healey has been getting a lot of press lately. They have been working with the R&D center looking at using UAVs including the Scan Eagle.

They are now on a second mission of the season.

The U. S. Naval Institute has published their annual “Coast Guard Issue.” It has some thoughts worth taking a look at, and there are cogent comments attached to at least one of the on-line articles.

If you are not a member, you probably should be, but if you don’t have access to the print version, a lot of the material is available on-line. As usual, some on-line articles are “open content” that can be viewed by anyone, while some are “members only.”

The Coast Guard specific “open content” articles include:

“The Demise of the Cutterman,” a feature length article that has attracted a lot of comment.

“Nobody ask me but…The U.S. Coast Guard Must Retain Its Most Talented Officers,” a short piece on assignment and promotion policies.

The Coast Guard specific members only articles are:

“Bring on the Workhorses” about the need to replace the WMECs with Offshore Patrol Cutters.

“The ’85 Percent Solution’,” which advocates for ice strengthened National Security Cutters.

“U.S. Coast Guard Resources,” which is actually in two parts.
—“References” a pdf which identifies all CG flag officers and five most senior enlisted with job titles and photos, and
—“Organizational & Information Services,” a pdf that includes an organizational wiring diagram and some informational phone numbers.

WarIsBoring reports on an exercise that included the shoot down of two small drone targets. Both are recorded in the video above. The first shoot-down is done using a door mounted 7.62mm machinegun like those used in Coast Guard airborne use of force equipped helicopters. The second used a fixed forward firing 20mm gatling gun on an MH-60S (correction applied to the original here).

It seems likely that well financed criminal organizations will soon be using drones to scout ahead of their drug running vessels (if they are not doing it already).

Can we shoot them down?

I wonder if the downwash from the helo might be enough?

MarineLink has a short story about the anticipated issuance on August 4 of a stamp honoring the Coast Guard.

BairdMaritime is reporting the five nations bordering the Arctic Ocean have agreed to prohibit fishing in the “doughnut hole” that lies outside the EEZ of any of the five nations.

“A declaration has been signed by the five countries that surround the Arctic Ocean, to prevent unregulated commercial fishing of the 1.1 million-square-nautical mile “doughnut hole” which falls outside of any country’s jurisdiction.

“Canada, the US, Greenland, Norway and Russia have signed a document stating that they will not allow any vessels to conduct any commercial fishing until one or more international mechanisms are in place to manage fishing in accordance with recognised international standards.”

This really isn’t an issue now, because there is no fishing there now. Still I wonder how we can regulate fishing outside the EEZ. Still, good to see they are out ahead of the problem.

For the next few days I will be unable to devote much, if any time, to the Blog. I expect to return to normal ops on 29 July.

Please continue the discussion.

gCaptain reports that an Egyptian Coast Guard vessel has been attacked by a militant group, Egypt’s Islamic State affiliate, “Sinai Province.”

Other reports identified the vessel as a frigate, and the weapon as a guided missile. It does appear that the vessel is smaller and the missile was probably an anti-tank weapon rather than an anti-ship cruise missile.

Reportedly the vessel had been engaging elements ashore.

This is the type of extemporaneous weaponry the Coast Guard could expect a terrorist organization to use against the USCG if they attacked the US. We should be particularly concerned that they not be able to target specific critical systems on our cutters. Currently I consider 4000 yards to be a reasonable standoff distance to minimize this possibility.

This is a straight news release, but I decided to quote it in its entirety because it is says a lot about the importance of what the Coast Guard does for the country. Note these increases are compared to pre-recession activity levels.–Chuck

New U.S. Port Economic Impacts Report Released
Since last nationwide analysis in 2007, U.S. seaport contributions to economy up dramatically

Lancaster, Pa.-based Martin Associates, a leading provider of economic and strategic assessments of the world’s transportation systems, today released the results of its latest economic impact study of United States seaports. Dr. John Martin, Martin Associates’ president, debuted his firm’s 2014 National Economic Impact of the U.S. Coastal Port System report during the second day of the American Association of Port Authorities’ (AAPA) 2015 Spring Conference in Washington, D.C.

In the seven years since Martin Associates’ last nationwide ports economic impact study, the contributions of America’s seaports to the nation’s economy have risen dramatically. From 2007 to 2014, the total economic value that U.S. coastal ports provide in terms of revenue to businesses, personal income and economic output by exporters and importers rose 43 percent to $4.6 trillion. This accounted for 26 percent of the nation’s $17.4 trillion economy in 2014, up from 20 percent of its $16.1 trillion economy in 2007.

Other notable gains since 2007 in Martin Associates’ new report include:
•Federal, state and local tax revenues generated by port-sector and importer/exporter revenues rose 51 percent to $321.1 billion;
•Jobs generated by port-related activity jumped 74 percent to 23.1 million; and,
•Personal wages and local consumption related to the port-sector increased to $1.1 trillion, with the average annual salary of those directly employed by port-related businesses equating to $53,723.

“The growth in jobs and economic importance of America’s seaports reflects the fact that the value of international cargo handled at these ports increased by $400 billion since 2007, reaching about $1.8 trillion in 2014,” said Dr. Martin. “It’s important to emphasize that the key growth in our international trade was in U.S. exports, which saw a 60 percent increase in value over the past seven years.”

Dr. Martin noted that each dollar increase in the value of export cargo supports significantly more jobs in the U.S. than does a dollar value of growth in imports. He also emphasized that the robust growth in the economic impact value from U.S. ports occurred despite the economic recession that severely hampered marine cargo activity between 2008 and 2012.

“The growth in the contributions of our ports to the nation’s economy underscores the need to invest in infrastructure and technology to support and foster good jobs, national security, inter­national trade and our standard of living,” said Dr. Martin.

In agreement with Dr. Martin’s assessment is AAPA President and CEO Kurt Nagle, who said that particularly with the economic contributions of America’s seaports growing rapidly, there’s a significant and urgent need for more federal investment in enhancing the connections with those ports. He added, “On the land-side alone, AAPA’s U.S. member ports have identified at least $28.9 billion in needed investments by 2025. These necessary road, rail, bridge and tunnel improvements are crucial to enable our seaports to efficiently handle their expected cargo volumes, continue providing dramatic economic and jobs impacts, and enhance America’s international competitiveness.”
—————————————————————————————————
About AAPA
Founded in 1912, AAPA today represents 160 of the leading seaport authorities in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 300 sustaining and associate members, firms and individuals with an interest in seaports. As a critical link for access to the global marketplace, each year, Western Hemisphere seaports generate trillions of dollars of economic activity, support the employment of millions of people and, in 2008, imported and exported more than 7.8 billion tons of cargo, valued at $8.6 trillion, including food, clothing, medicine, fuel and building materials, as well as consumer electronics and toys. The volume of cargo shipped by water is expected to dramatically increase by 2020 and the number of passengers traveling through our seaports will continue to grow. To meet these demands, the AAPA and its members are committed to keeping seaports navigable, secure and sustainable.

FOR RELEASE – April 21, 2015
Contact: Aaron Ellis, Public Affairs Director, aellis@aapa-ports.org
(703) 684-5700 or (703) 254-7098
American Association of Port Authorities
1010 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 684-5700
Fax: (703) 684-6321
http://www.aapa-ports.org

MarineLink reports,

The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) last week adopted a formal resolution to develop a legally-binding treaty for the conservation of marine biodiversity on the ‘high seas’.

The new ocean regulations are proposed to include: area-based management tools, such as marine planning and marine protected areas; environmental impact assessment (EIA) requirements; the transfer of marine technology; and a regime for managing marine genetic resources, including benefit-sharing. These developments have potentially significant implications for ocean economic activities, such as shipping, oil and gas, cruise tourism, fishing, marine mining, biotechnology, submarine cable, as well as for related sectors, such as maritime law, insurance and investment.

Apparently they are seeking comment with a meeting scheduled for November in Singapore.

What are the chances we will see some results from this? Given how long it took to have UNCLOS accepted, I would not expect anything soon, but you have to start somewhere.