While we have covered eLoran before, most notably in this eLoran FAQ early last year, new headlines provide the need for revisiting the topic. In an article titled “Will Obama Kill Navigation Backup System as GPS Threatens to Fail?” Popular Mechanics tells us:

Even as a government watchdog agency warns that GPS navigation satellites could fail, the Obama administration’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget has quietly killed the nation’s backup navigation system.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week warning, “It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected.” The report also notes that the current program is about $870 million over budget and the launch of its first satellite has been delayed to November 2009, almost three years late.

This GAO report comes at a bad time for the Obama administration, which cut funding for the nation’s only backup to GPS from its 2010 budget. The LORAN system, which stands for Long-Range Aids to Navigation, is a network of terrestrial transmission stations, equipped with antennas as tall as 900 feet and staffed with Coast Guard personnel.

The network has been on the verge of obsolescence because GPS has a wider range and can transmit more precise information. That’s why Peter Orszag, director of Obama’s Office of Management and Budget, in an online posting on the White House’s websitewrote the “long-range, radio-navigation system has been made obsolete by GPS.” (Full Article Link)

From its invention by Alfred Lee Loomis to assist the Navy and Air Force during WWI to the wide scale adoption of GPS in the 90’s, Loran served the navigation needs of mariners in coastal waters. While Loran-C receivers have been taken off the bridges of most merchant ships it’s replacement, GPS, suffers from enough faults that every mariner is still required by the US Coast Guard to learn both terrestrial and celestial navigation. [Continue Reading →]

On June 12, 2009 Rear Admiral Ronald J. Rábago assumed duties as the new Assistant Commandant for Acquisitions and Chief Acquisition Officer of the United States Coast Guard.  Previously, Rear Admiral Ronald J. Rábago served as the Coast Guard Program Executive Officer (PEO) on a two year assigment.  His duties as PEO included management oversight of all Coast Guard acquisition programs and projects, including Deepwater, which provides for the sustainable, modernization, and recapitalization of surface, air, command and control, and logistics assets for the Coast Guard’s multiple maritime missions.  A press release issued today from the USCG states of his new duties:

The Coast Guard’s newest two-star admiral is Rear Adm. Ronald J. Rábago, a 1978 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy.  Rábago previously served as the Coast Guard Program Executive Officer and Director of Acquisition Programs since the establishment of the Acquisition Directorate July 13, 2007.  Rábago’s new duties include direction of all Coast Guard acquisition programs and related procurement management, contracting and research and development activities to support the service’s $27 billion acquisition investment portfolio.  That portfolio consists of 22 major acquisition projects which deliver the systems, products and services necessary for mission execution. Read Full Release

While serving his previous assignment as PEO, gCaptain was lucky enough to speak with Rear Admiral Ronald J. Rábago about the Aquisitions program and its Rescue 21 system.  The interview is previded below. [Continue Reading →]

Should LRIT replace Amver? This question was raised by Ryan Erickson on the Unofficial Coast Guard Blog. Ryan did a nice job of highlighting many of the features of both systems. Let’s explore things a bit further. [Continue Reading →]

Imagine, if you can, the confluence of events that would have to take place to leave you with marine flares being your primary method of signaling distress.  The number of devices that have to fail or become unavailable to you is amazing.  Your radios, GMDSS, SARTS, ERPIRBs, any number of SATCOM devices all have to be down (or gone) for pyrotechnics to be the best option. The things are the ultimate litmus test for a bad day at sea; i.e. If you ever find yourself launching a flare and you are not practicing, you are definitely having one.  If you find yourself reading the directions on the label then things are much, much worse.

Perhaps because the use of pyrotechnics in an emergency is so rare, there are a lot of misconceptions about the devices, their practicality, and how to best use these “last ditch” signals.  Here are some things all mariners should consider before pulling the trigger (or pulling the lanyard, or lever, or…): [Continue Reading →]

Continuing its push to social media and web 2.o, the USCG has just launched a new blog to accompany their already impressive arsenal of online outlets, The Coast Guard Compass.  The idea behind the Coast Guard Compass is that it will not just be about the Coast Guard, but rather about the men and women who make the Coast Guard the service it is today, and the missions they do.

With 100,000 enlisted, reservist, civilian and auxiliary men and woman serving, the Coast Guard Compass fills a much needed gap in the online community that the USCG has established and we will be sure to follow along as it progresses.

You can also follow the Coast Guard Compass on Twitter or sign up for their RSS feed HERE.

Also of note, the USCG has just launched another blog called the Coast Guard Marine Safety blog.  This new blog is a video series that describes today’s global marine transportation challenges and the role Coast Guard, recreational boaters, and professional mariners have to protect maritime commerce, the marine environment, and safety of life at sea.

The Coast Guard Marine Safety blog can be found HERE

Fellow blogger and podcasting partner, Peter A. Mello, of Sea-Fever.org and Messing About in Ships had the distinguished honor last week of interviewing USCG Commandant Admiral Thad Allen in his other podcast, Weekly Leader.

Peter tells us on his blog:

In 2006 United States Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen was joined by investor Warren Buffett, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Proctor & Gamble Chief Executive Officer Arthur Lafley, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and 12 other impressive individuals in being named by US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders. Today Admiral Allen leads nearly 100,000 enlisted, reservist, civilian and auxiliary men and woman who fulfill the Coast Guard’s mission “to protect the public, the environment, and U.S. economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests may be at risk, including international waters and America’s coasts, ports, and inland waterways.”

Check out Sea-Fever.org for more info including show notes from episode 5 of Weekly Leader.

Weekly Leader HOMEPAGE

For more be sure to read Mass Maritime Cadet Christiaan Conover’s interview with the Admiral (Part 1 and Part 2) then visit his official iCommandant blog and twitter pages.

 

 Weekly Leader podcast episode 5 (USCG Commandant Admiral Thad Allen) [56:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In response to the uprise in piracy and recent attacks on U.S. flagged vessels, the USCG has issued the Maritime Security Directive 104-6 (rev. 2) issued under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2004.  The revised Maritime Security Directive was signed on Monday by Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen and according to a press release from the USCG:

Maritime Security Directive 104-6 (rev. 2) issued by the Coast Guard under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2004 provides the maritime industry with specific, risk-based measures to take to deter, detect or disrupt piracy.  Prior to entering high risk waters, U.S. flagged vessels should establish an anti-piracy plan that includes the hardening of rigging and operating vessels in a manner to prevent attacks and subsequent boarding. Ships shall also use established transit lanes, erratic ships maneuvering, increased speed and cooperation with military forces patrolling the area. During transits through high-risk areas, it is the ship’s responsibility to maintain a vigilant anti-piracy watch and ensure all shipboard anti-piracy precautions are in force.

Additionally, ship owners of U.S. flagged vessels are required to submit security plans for approval by May 25 for vessels that operate in high risk waters and these vessels must have security protocols for terrorism, piracy, and armed robbery against ships that meet the performance standards in this directive.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Watson told shipping industry representatives at a maritime security meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that the directive will also allow ship owners to decide whether to use armed or unarmed guards and that the State Department was working with countries in pirate-plagued regions to learn what weapons laws apply in their ports in order to clarify the issue for U.S. mariners.  Watson also said the new directive would not be publicly released in its entirety because it contained sensitive security information. (source: Reuters)

Analysis of the Analysis
By John G. Denham

Recently three ponderous documents have been published  that may eventually affect pilotage, ship management and hopefully bridge resources management (BRM): USCG report on the allision involving the COSCO BUSAN; NTSB report on the same and the public submission by John Meadows and K&L lawyers representing pilot John Cota.

In examining the reports I arrived at the conclusion that the author(s) are mostly legal people, and therefore compose legally but not nautically. In my up-bringing, I was exposed to a knowledgeable senior officer named that assigned me to review a collision report. “Normally,” he said, “I seek an officer with some personal experience in these thing, but they don’t seem to be around much, therefore as you seem to be somewhat involved. Look this over. Pick out the B.S.” He felt the best experts on accidents were those with actual experience. In three earlier published articles the conduct of bridge team management was presented, the procedures for handling pilots was discussed and the role of persons in command was explained. I have experienced all that and at times did not do too well. Since I have learned a lot from others’.
[Continue Reading →]

Earlier today, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the allision of the M/V Cosco Busan with the Delta Tower of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge on November 7, 2007, resulting in the release of 53,500 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay.

The final report reflected sentiments expressed at the NTSB’s hearing on the accident in February as well as opinions reflected here on gCaptain.  This included determination of probable cause, in which the Safety Board cited three factors:

1. the pilot’s degraded cognitive performance from his use of impairing prescription medications;
2. the absence of a comprehensive pre-departure master/pilot exchange and a lack of effective communication between the pilot and the master during the accident voyage, and;
3. the master’s ineffective oversight of the pilot’s performance and the vessel’s progress.

[Continue Reading →]

Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a subcommittee hearing on Piracy on the High Seas: Protecting our Ships, Crews, and Passengers.  The goal of the hearing was to examine ongoing efforts to combat piracy on the high seas.  The subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., heard testimonies from, amongst others, Philip J. Shapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Maritime Corporation,  Rear Admiral Brian Salerno, Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security, and Stewardship for the U.S. Coast Guard, and Captain Phillips and Michael Perry, master and chief engineer of the MV Maersk Alabama.

Philip Shapiro, who’s company was recently victimized by pirates off the Somali coast in the April 14th attack on the M/V Liberty Sun, said that U.S. cargo crews should be allowed to arm themselves in response to the rising hijacking threat stating that although an 1819 statute gave ships the right to defend themselves, they still were subject to laws and inconsistent port rules governing whether armed vessels could dock.   [Continue Reading →]