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USCG Capt. Elmo Alexander in better days.
Reading like a chapter from Herman Wouk’s 1951 novel The Caine Mutiny the commander of Coast Guard Cutter Midgett has been relieved of duty.
The Seattle Times is reporting:
The commander of the Seattle-based Coast Guard 378′ cutter Midgett has admitted in an official inquiry that he berated and [...]

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Click Image For Hi-Resolution Version/
Being technologically oriented ship drivers we are easily excited by new web sites that combine these interests. Having worked closely with web based AIS (Digital Seas, EarthNC, ActiveCaptain, VslTrax… to name a few) providers during the Cosco Busan incident we are also increasingly becoming interested in digital ship tracking technology so [...]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYTl3MH74WA

The USCG has intercepted another DIY Semi-Submersible operated by drug smugglers. CNN tells us:
In the past three months the Coast Guard has learned of more semi-submersible vessels smuggling drugs than it did in the previous six years, when there were 23 cases, officials said.
U.S. Coast Guard intelligence officers predict 85 cases this year and 120 [...]

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Sailor, Mariners, seafarers and to whom it may concern

by Captain John Denham

The Department of Justice has submitted “information relative to a criminal action ” in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, California; an accusation against a mariner for violating The Clean Water Act and The Migratory Bird Treaty Act. As a criminal case it will [...]

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US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen
 
US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said in a recent email:
“USCG activities involving U.S. and foreign professional mariners and maritime organizations will be conducted with utmost professionalism and respect. Licensed and documented mariners are professionals who share our interests in a safe, secure, and environmentally compliant industry. Alexander Hamilton’s charge [...]

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INTERVIEW WITH USCG RESCUE HELICOPTER CREW
This past July, in a gCaptain and Robin Storm exclusive, we brought you the Lessons Learned by North Atlantic freak wave survivor Jean Pierre de Lutz. Just two months prior to that article Jean was aboard the sailboat Sean Seamor II when he found trouble in the north Atlantic. [...]

 

 Messing About In Ships Podcast #12 - Special Interview of US Coast Guard Rescue of Sailors Aboard the Yacht Sean Seymour II: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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The Coast Guard has launched a new website with Video, Podcasts and Photos featured on the homepage. In the official Press Release they write:
I am excited to share the new and improved Coast Guard Homepage with you. Our goal was to create a homepage that would become the single location for Coast Guard information to [...]

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Launched last week the Bertholf is the United States Coast Guard’s newest cutter. Click HERE to visit the ship’s homepage and HERE for shipyard photos.

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A Word On Vessel Traffic Service
by Captain John Denham
The purpose of a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is to provide active monitoring and navigational advice for vessels in particularly confined and busy waterways. There are two main types of VTS, surveilled and non-surveilled. Surveilled systems consist of one or more land-based sensors (i.e. radar, and closed [...]

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As a member of the first “class” of mariners to fall under the new USCG training requirements for Chief Mate / Master I have enough Coast Guard licensing related stories of frustration to launch a separate blog. During these years of battling various REC’s one name surfaced repeatedly as source for sound advice; Andy Hammond. [...]

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