Coast Guard responds to cargo ship aground in the Chesapeake Bay

BALTIMORE – The Coast Guard is responding to a cargo ship that ran aground Saturday near Gibson Island in the Chesapeake Bay.

At about 11:05 a.m., watch standers at Coast Guard Sector Baltimore received a call from the motor vessel CSL Argosy, an 800-foot Bohemian flagged bulk carrier, reporting that they had run aground in the lower Craig Hill Channel just north of Annapolis, Md.

There are no reports of pollution or injuries.

Three tug boats from McAllister Towing are currently on scene to attempt to free the Argosy.

A Coast Guard investigation team, along with Coast Guard inspectors, is en route to the scene via a response boat from Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay, Md. The investigation team will meet with crewmembers of the Argosy to begin standard investigation procedures.

“We are working with the Maryland Pilots Association and the crewmembers of the Argosy to safely get the vessel free and to have it inspected to insure that it is able to operate safely,” said Capt. Brian Kelley, Captain of the Port of Baltimore.

The Argosy was inbound to Baltimore with a cargo of iron ore.

The cause of the grounding is under investigation.

Coast Guard Video of US Air Flight 1549 Landing in the Hudson

Watch the left hand bottom of the video for the splash.

COAST GUARD VOLUNTEERS READY FOR INAUGURATION WEEK RIVER EMERGENCIES OR DISASTER

By Joseph P Cirone, Branch Chief – Department of Public Affairs

Whether presented with the emergency water landing of an aircraft; a national security event; or the call to rescue a distressed boater, scores of specially trained waterborne personnel are immediately available to respond throughout the National Capital Region, year-round, but will be even more ready during the next week.

Throughout Inauguration Week, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary – the largest volunteer organization within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a key component of the U.S. Coast Guard, leads a list of assets helping keep the region’s waterways safe and secure.

UW grad Tracy Garrett earns her second USMC star

Brigadier General Tracy L. Garrett Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe; and Commander, U.S.Marine Corps Forces, Africa

From Mike Barber: P-I staff reporter

Marine Corps Reserve Brig. Gen. Tracy L. Garrett, a Seattle native and 1978 University of Washington graduate who in October became commander of both Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, was nominated Wednesday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to be promoted to major general.

Read more at Mike’s Blog at seattlepi.com

Put a cork in your assumptions on the future of Coast Guards WMSL’s

Michael DeKorts 12 January 2009 post GAO comes down on Bollinger’s side has generated pretty healthy discussion.  One anonymous comment deserves its own post in the interest “fairness in reporting.”  The anonymous author of the post was to point, articulate and apparently has detailed knowledge of the topic.    We’ll try to give such comments, and rebuttals thier own space.

I want to go back to the original comment and your reply. The comment stated that the CG has rogered up on the importance of TEMPEST on the WMSL. As such, to date no classified systems are functioning onboard BERTHOLF. This will not changed until the entire ship, its cabling, it C2 systems, and its procedures meet FULL TEMPEST standards. Recently BERTHOLF successfully completed its visual TEMPEST inspection and the CG is making necessary modifications to full satisfy TEMPEST requirments. With that said (unless you want to say all above is a lie) where is your beef. I’ll gladly admit that you probably know more about the 123 “CF” than most that read this blog and if you want to go on about that then fine. The plain and simple truth is that everything you say about the WMSL is from third party sources in conjunction with your own extrapolations and suppositions. Stick to what you know and leave the WMSL discussion to actual sources and cited references. Regarding your opinion of whether the WMSL should have a SCIF; that sounds like your diasgreement with policy not TEMPEST itself. Throwing such a bold one-liner out there is inappropriate unless you intend to actually follow it up. Your repeated crying that the CG allegedly transmited near Cuba with inproperly shielded systems does not give you the credibility or experience to claim that the CG is incapable of properly creating, integrating, operating, and maintaining a SCIF. In fact, the SCIF will never be turned on until those parties that do possess such authority clear the system. So please do me and all the readers a simple favor. Put a cork in your assumptions on the WMSL’s future. Feel free to call out ICGS and the CG for the blunder that was Deepwater. Use the benefit of hindsight to show every wrong decision up to now. Tell CG-9 that they have a long way to go. Tell everyone how like evey Navy first of class hull 750 is painful. Please feel free to do all of that but until the day that the red side of BERTHOLF is turned on shut up about WMSL TEMPEST. You have beat the horse but it takes time for the CG to completely redesign the C2 system the LMCO built.

You can either report the facts and leave the fiction to those that call it a profession or you can take a stab at the great American novel and leave the journalism to those that do that for a living.