gCaptain.com

The US Coast Guard brings us their 10 most popular pages.

1. Merchant Mariner Documentation (MMD) / Standards for Training Certification & Watchkeeping (STCW) / National Maritime Center (NMC)
2. Coast Guard Reserve
3. Personnel Service Center (PSC)
4. Civilian Careers
5. USCG Directives System
6. National Vessel Documentation Center (NVDC)
7. Coast Guard Eighth District, New Orleans LA
8. Sector San Juan, PR
9. Coast Guard Seventh District, Miami FL
10. Coast Guard First District, Boston MA

The top ranked page belongs to the mariner licensing branch of the US Coast Guard. While we visit the page often it’s more famous for taking the place of USCG.mil/stcw, a page in much need of a redesign. Also interesting is the absence of Homeport from the list. Homeport was created as an “all in one” solution for finding information on ports, vessels and mariners but never gained popularity with industry insiders. We think the main reason for it’s failure is the security “feature” that prevents us from linking directly to pages within Homeport. What use is the information if we can’t easily share it with friends & colleagues?

For the record, here are the official USCG pages that we use the most.

• Media Files
• USCG News Feeds
• Newsletters and Magazines (Including Proceedings
• Official YouTube Channel
• CG Journal
• MAYDAY Calls
• USCG Artwork
• Information Exchange
• USCG Sitemap

If your looking for Unofficial Coast Guard site then try these links:

• Unofficial Coast Guard Blog
• Unofficial Coast Guard Wiki
• USCG.org Forum
• USCG Flickr Slideshow
• Admiral Thad Allen’s Facebook Page

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 both internal and external audiences. What we now have is just that — a homepage that provides important and timely Coast Guard information to all. It also more closely aligns with what Admiral Allen stated during a questions and answer session after his speech at the National Press Club on February 8, 2008: if we don’t keep up with new media and technologies we will marginalize our ability to communicate externally, and more importantly we will also lose the interest of our own Coast Guard members.

The new site features, among other things, a new magazine (no issues yet published), YouTube channel and official Podcast. It may not be as entertaining as Messing About In Ships… but we are encouraged by the effort.

You can find all this and more at the Coast Guard’s homepage: USCG.mil