On 1 March, 2018, Admiral Paul Zukunft made is State of the Coast Guard address. You can watch it here. Below is the draft transcript of the Commandant’s address. The Commandant went off script only slightly. One thing he did … Continue reading
The Coast Guard might learn something from the way the Navy plows the ground ahead of their budget requests. The Navy creates a “Force Structure Assessment” and from this, they derive a 30 year ship building plan. the Coast Guard … Continue reading
SouthCom, actually two SouthComs in a row, and the Commandant have noted that while they have excellent intelligence on drug smugglers in the transit zone, they simply do not have adequate numbers of vessels to respond. (Here, here, and here) … Continue reading
USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1) U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Edwardo Proano Generally I feel the CG and the US in general is not paying enough attention to the US EEZ in the Western Pacific … Continue reading
Since before recorded history, merchant vessels have been adapted for offensive purposes by navies, pirates, and privateers to destroy enemy commerce or to launch attacks ashore. Frequently they employed disguise and deception. The UK employed Ships Taken Up From Trade … Continue reading
A seafarer’s Christmas poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in the Scots Observer in 1888 — “The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand; … Continue reading
Photo credit: Loren, ROC Coast Guard ships in Keelung Harbor, 1 January 2007 Earlier we saw this photo and comments indicated that Derecktor, which built nine of the USCG’s 270s had sold the design to Taiwan. (Additional photos and discussion … Continue reading
British Royal Marines from Fort Victoria taking down a Pirate mother ship as reported in the last update–looks a lot like a Caribbean drug bust. Helicopter firing warning shots across the bow of a small vessel. Two RHIBs conduct an … Continue reading
Since the last piracy update on December 21, 2011. Nato reports there have been at least five pirate attacks, and at least six other incidents of apparent pirate activity. The Italian flag tanker MT Enrico Levoli was seized and is … Continue reading
As noted previously, Somali pirates seem to be having a harder time this year. Additionally we continue to see both increased acceptance of the efficacy of armed security guards and increasing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. Eaglespeak shows how … Continue reading
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