Page 6. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2015 Minutes from the December Port Safety Forum Continued from Page 5.
for planning purposes, since they are being refi ned. Any questions should be directed to Bill DeLong, DHS Protective Security Advisor,
William.delong@
hq.dhs.gov. Communicable Diseases: Coast Guard
Actions – CDR Humpage/LTJG Garnier, USCG - LTJG Garnier of Sector Northern New England delivered a brief overview of the current Ebola situation and its impact on our coastal marine community. According to the World Health Organization; despite ramping down in recent weeks, Ebola has over 11,000 confi rmed cases and has claimed 6,331 lives. Despite an apparent slow-down, this is the time when vigilance is most critical. He outlined the recent Marine Safety Information Bulletin 17-14 issued by Coast Guard Headquarters on October 22, 2014 as the appropriate guidance for Ebola precautions in the maritime industry. The Bulletin indicates that Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia are still high risk countries and are on the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Travel Warning list.
Other bulletin highlights include: The importance of notifying the Coast Guard and/or CDC of any concerns or suspected communicable disease aboard a visiting ship.
The Coast Guard will continue to eval- uate all ships entering the U.S. through the advance notice of arrival system to ascertain risk of communicable disease.
Ships are required by 42 CFR 71.21 to report to the CDC any sick or deceased passengers or crew in the past 15 days. The topic was opened for a vigorous facilitated discussion among the forum regarding various roles, concerns, and po-
tential actions in the event of a vessel arrival with a communicable disease. Coast Guard Update: Domestic Ice- breaking Preparations and Available Re- sources – CWO Bob Albert, USCG - Chief Warrant Offi cer Robert Albert of Sector Northern New England Waterways Man- agement Division, provided an overview of the Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission and procedures. The Coast Guard’s icebreaking mission has three basic priorities: Search and rescue; Exigent community
service (e.g., fl ood relief); and Facilitate navigation.
Sector Northern New England has four dedicated ice breaking resources; three 65’ harbor tugs, and one 140’ ice breaking tug. The Coast Guard uses Auxiliary air craft to fl y regular ice reconnaissance missions to track ice formations.
The Coast Guard’s
navigation facilitation focuses on petroleum facilities on: Piscataqua River; Portland Harbor/Fore River; and Penobscot River/ Bucksport/Searsport.
The Coast Guard may also be dis- patched to break ice where “Reasonable Demand of Commerce” is justifi ed, such as breaking out an iced facility.
Requests
may be made 24 hours a day by contacting the Coast Guard Command Center at (207) 767-0303. VM -100 Transition/ Waterway Man-
agement VM-100 transition - LTJG David Bourbeau USCG -LTJG David Bourbeau updated the Forum regarding the ongoing replacement of obsolete VM-100 fog sig- nals with the latest generation on-demand Mariner Activated Radio Sound Signal (MRASS) systems. The VM-100 systems are aging with growing reliability issues and limited spare parts, requiring the transition.
The U.S. Coast Guard is upgrading the older VM-100 systems across the entire country including Maine and New Hampshire. While phase-in has started, there are 18 VM- 100 systems that remain in the area, which the Coast Guard expects to replace over the next year. The new MRASS system allows mariners to remotely activate navigation sound signals on demand by using a VHF radio. Mariners who require a sound signal will activate the aid by keying their VHF mic 5 times within 10 seconds on channel 83. The range of activation is line of sight. Once activated, the signal will sound for a pre-set period of time between 15 to 60 minutes. The current time-line will replace all VM-100 signals with mariner activated MRASS systems by the end of 2015. Below are the remaining VM-100 systems that are slated for conversion in 2015.
Inland Navigation Rule Changes
- LTJG David Bourbeau, USCG - LTJG Bourbeau reviewed changes to the Inland Navigation Rules which were promulgated through a Federal Register Final Rule in August 2014. For the most part, the changes are minor and designed to better align with International Rules of the Road following a Navigation Safety Advisory Committee recommendation. As a reference, the rule changes are listed below. For more infor- mation please visit
www.navcen.uscg.gov. Rule Changes:
83.03: Rule 3 (m): Wing-in-Ground (WIG); added defi nition
83.18: Rule 18 (f): added WIG 83.23: Rule 23 (c): added WIG 83.24: Rule 24 (g): added “combination of such vessels/objects”
83.25: Rule 25 (d): vessel less than 7m, white light exhibition
83.31: Rule 31: added WIG
83.35: Rule 35 (l): 20m or less not obliged to give bell signal 83.19: Annex I: High-speed craft lighting requirements 86.01: Annex III: Range of whistle signals 87.01: Annex IV: Need of assistance, Digital Selective Calling (DSC) transmission
Editorial Changes:
83.26: Rule 26 (f): Additional lights for Fishing Vessels fi shing in close proximity (Annex II)
83.27: Rule 27 (d): Dredge pipeline lights (Annex V)
83.30: Rule 30 (g) – (l): Moored barges (Annex V)
Old Business/New Business: NOAA Announcements – LT Meghan McGovern, NOAA -
LT McGovern announced that
NOAA Ship Ferdinand R. Hassler (S250) will be conducting hydrographic survey op- erations in the Gulf of Maine in the vicinity of Saco Bay and Cape Porpoise intermit- tently from January through February of
2015. Ferdinand R. Hassler is a 124-foot, white, twin-hulled survey vessel; the ship has NOAA markings, can be identifi ed on
AIS, and will be monitoring VHF channels 13 and 16. Survey operations will be con-
ducted 24-hrs a day from the ship. Mariners are requested to exercise caution when transiting the operational area. When towed hydrographic instrumentation is deployed, Ferdinand R. Hassler will be restricted in her ability to maneuver. An overview of the survey area is shown below. Questions or concerns can be addressed to the ship’s Field Operations Offi cer via phone at: (603)
812-8748 or via email at: ops.ferdinand.
hassler@noaa.gov. Army Corps Announcements – Jay
Clement, Army Corps of Engineers – Mr. Clement announced that dredging in the
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