Requirements Balancer Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. - KMI Media Group
Requirements Balancer Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. - KMI Media Group
Requirements Balancer Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. - KMI Media Group
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Dedicated to Those Who Are Always Ready<br />
<strong>Requirements</strong><br />
<strong>Balancer</strong><br />
<strong>Adm</strong>. <strong>Robert</strong> J.<br />
<strong>Papp</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>.<br />
Commandant<br />
U.S. Coast Guard<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com<br />
May 2013<br />
Volume 5, Issue 1<br />
View from<br />
the hill<br />
U.S. Representative<br />
Howard Coble<br />
(R-N.C.)<br />
Cleaner, Better Engines O Icebreakers O C4ISR Technologies<br />
Maritime Domain Awareness O Oil Spill Response O Safety
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U.S. Coast guard forum<br />
May 2013<br />
Volume 5, Issue 1<br />
Features<br />
Cover / Q&A<br />
5<br />
VIEW FROMTHE HILL<br />
Despite the Coast<br />
Guard’s reputation<br />
of doing more<br />
with less, this<br />
Congressman is<br />
convinced that<br />
our current asset<br />
deployment in the<br />
Arctic Region is<br />
exceptionally inadequate.<br />
By Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.)<br />
23<br />
Coast Guard C4ISR<br />
Technologies<br />
The technological eyes and ears of<br />
the Coast Guard. Whether looking<br />
for the latest drug-running semisubmersible<br />
or a sailor lost at sea—it<br />
takes a keen eye with the right tools<br />
to get the job done.<br />
By Jeff Goldman<br />
16<br />
6<br />
Dirty Business<br />
An oil spill can be<br />
disastrous, but the<br />
response can be<br />
the measure of the<br />
event. Pre-planning<br />
and technology come<br />
together to drive<br />
solutions.<br />
By Peter Buxbaum<br />
9<br />
Cleaner, Better<br />
Engines<br />
Engine designers<br />
must meet emission<br />
rules, but should<br />
seek to do much<br />
more. Fuel efficiency,<br />
Departments<br />
2 Editor’s Perspective<br />
3 Nav Notes<br />
14 On The Horizon<br />
27 Resource Center<br />
reliability, low<br />
maintenance cost,<br />
size and weight<br />
are also important<br />
considerations for<br />
customers and thus<br />
engine makers.<br />
By Henry Canaday<br />
12<br />
On Thin Ice<br />
Changing Arctic<br />
sea ice patterns<br />
and traffic create<br />
greater need for<br />
icebreakers. Can the<br />
Coast Guard—and<br />
the U.S.—protect its<br />
interests with so few<br />
icebreakers?<br />
By John M. Doyle<br />
20<br />
Precaution is<br />
Key<br />
Off-load marine<br />
hooks are found<br />
on workboats and<br />
military vessels<br />
around the world and<br />
are used to launch<br />
fast rescue craft and<br />
other similar small<br />
manned boats from<br />
the deck of a ship<br />
using a davit or other<br />
similar launch and<br />
recovery system.<br />
Maintenance and<br />
certification of critical<br />
parts are key to the<br />
safety of life at sea.<br />
By Michael Gabriel<br />
Industry Interview<br />
28<br />
21<br />
Maritime Domain<br />
Awareness<br />
The U.S. Coast<br />
Guard is charged<br />
with protecting<br />
the homeland and<br />
ensuring the security<br />
of our harbors, ports<br />
and waterways. But<br />
homeland defense<br />
does not begin at the<br />
border. It begins far<br />
from home. Maritime<br />
domain awareness<br />
requires end-to-end<br />
vigilance.<br />
By Ned Lundquist<br />
William (Bill) E. Skinner<br />
Chief Executive Officer<br />
VT Halter Marine Shipyard<br />
<strong>Adm</strong>iral <strong>Robert</strong> J. <strong>Papp</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>.<br />
Commandant<br />
U.S. Coast Guard<br />
“From an<br />
operational<br />
perspective, the<br />
Coast Guard’s<br />
most pressing<br />
need is to invest<br />
in recapitalization<br />
of the offshore<br />
cutter fleet.<br />
Given the<br />
condition of our<br />
fleet—many<br />
older than 45<br />
years—we<br />
must continue<br />
to recapitalize<br />
cutters, boats<br />
and aircraft.”<br />
- <strong>Adm</strong>. <strong>Robert</strong> J.<br />
<strong>Papp</strong>
Border Threat Prevention and CBRNE Response<br />
<strong>Adm</strong>inistration<br />
Wide Area Aerial Surveillance O Hazmat Disaster Response<br />
Tactical Communications O P-3 Program<br />
SPECIAL SECTION:<br />
www.BCD-kmi.com<br />
June 2012<br />
Volume 1, Issue 1<br />
Leadership Insight:<br />
<strong>Robert</strong> S. Bray<br />
Assistant <strong>Adm</strong>inistrator for<br />
Law Enforcement<br />
Director of the Federal Air<br />
Marshal Service<br />
Transportation Security<br />
U.S. Coast Guard<br />
Forum<br />
Volume 5, Issue 1 • May 2013<br />
Dedicated to Those Who<br />
Are Always Ready<br />
Editorial<br />
Editor-In-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com<br />
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Steve Hirsh • William Murray<br />
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EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE<br />
The Coast Guard is proud of its support in Operation Arctic, an interagency<br />
effort that saw them deploy a national security cutter (NSC), two ice-capable<br />
buoy tenders and two helicopters 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The NSC<br />
performed as expected and was a linchpin to the successful operations.<br />
The fiscal year 2014 budget provides a request for the seventh national<br />
security cutter. The ship is critical because of the capabilities that it delivers to<br />
the fleet, but also to fill the gap left by the decommissioning of high endurance<br />
cutters as they reach the end of their useful service life. As has been discussed in<br />
the pages of Coast Guard Forum many times in the past, while the replacement<br />
of cutters is not being done on a one-for-one basis, what the NSCs and the fast<br />
response cutters bring to the operational toolkit exceeds what the older cutters<br />
Jeffrey D. McKaughan<br />
Editor-IN-CHIEF<br />
could provide. While the numbers may decline, overall mission capabilities should increase—so long as the<br />
numbers of ships in the fleet never fall below a critical mass.<br />
On the other hand, is nine years a long time or not? That’s about how long the Coast Guard has to<br />
sustain the Polar Star until the next-generation icebreaker is projected to be ready. Reacquisition activities<br />
are currently being funded (see the chart on page 13) and the Coast Guard and Congress seem committed to<br />
moving the project forward. The Coast Guard has allies on the Hill; Representative Howard Coble—himself<br />
a former Coastie—is concerned about the country’s ability to project and protect its national interests in the<br />
polar arctic region if we are one of the few nations competing in that area without a true heavy icebreaker. As<br />
he puts it, we can’t keep doing something with nothing!<br />
Turning inward a little, <strong>KMI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> is working on the launch of our 12th title, Navy Air/Sea PEO<br />
Forum, a magazine focused on the U.S. Navy program executive offices that work the projects that fly and<br />
float. Rear <strong>Adm</strong>iral Thomas Moore, PEO Carriers, will be featured on the inaugural cover. We are still building<br />
the distribution list for this title, so please reach out to us if this is another of <strong>KMI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong>’s magazines<br />
that is in your wheelhouse.<br />
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NAV NOTES<br />
Compiled by <strong>KMI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
Bollinger Shipyards Inc. has delivered the<br />
Margaret Norvell, the fifth fast response cutter<br />
(FRC), to the U.S. Coast Guard. The announcement<br />
was made by Bollinger Executive Vice President of<br />
New Construction, Chris Bollinger. “We are very<br />
pleased to announce another successful on-time<br />
delivery to the Coast Guard. The Margaret Norvell<br />
was delivered to the 7th Coast Guard District<br />
in Key West, Fla., and will be stationed at USCG<br />
Sector Miami. We are all looking forward to the<br />
vessel’s commissioning, as well as honoring and<br />
celebrating the heroic acts of Margaret Norvell.”<br />
The 154-foot patrol craft Margaret Norvell<br />
is the fifth vessel in the Coast Guard’s Sentinelclass<br />
FRC program. To build the FRC, Bollinger<br />
Shipyards used a proven, in-service parent craft<br />
design based on the Damen Stan Patrol Boat<br />
4708. It has a flank speed of 28 knots, state of<br />
the art command, control, communications and<br />
computer technology, and a stern launch system<br />
for the vesse’ls 2- foot cutter boat. The FRC has<br />
been described as an operational game changer,<br />
by senior Coast Guard officials.<br />
Newest FRC Delivered<br />
The Coast Guard took delivery March 21,<br />
2013, in Key West, Fla., and is scheduled to<br />
commission the vessel in New Orleans, Louisiana<br />
in June 2013.<br />
Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast<br />
Guard hero who distinguished him or herself<br />
in the line of duty. This vessel is named after<br />
Coast Guard hero Margaret Norvell for serving<br />
admirably for 41 years with the U.S. Lighthouse<br />
Service in Louisiana from 1891 to 1932. Her<br />
devotion to duty saved the lives of countless<br />
sailors as she vigilantly stood the watch. Norvell<br />
served as keeper of both the Port Ponchartrain<br />
Light and the West End Light.<br />
Contractor Support<br />
for Sentinel Cutter<br />
Build<br />
The contract award for 18 Sentinel-class<br />
cutters has required the establishment of a project<br />
residence office (PRO) at the contractors’ facility<br />
in Lockport, La. The requested billet structure will<br />
remain unfulfilled as a result of limited USCG<br />
personnel resources. The Coast Guard, therefore,<br />
has issued a solicitation for on-site contractor<br />
support services for the PRO. The contractor shall<br />
provide design review and validation services in<br />
support of the Sentinel-class patrol craft project.<br />
The contractor will also provide support tasks to<br />
include test inspection and quality assurance for<br />
the cutters during construction, shipyard trials,<br />
delivery and post-delivery warranty periods.<br />
The Coast Guard uses Fleet Broadband<br />
(FB), Swift-64 and BGAN (Broadband, Swift<br />
Broadband) services to support underway<br />
cutters, aircraft and Portable SIPRNET<br />
Kits (PSK). These services are part of the<br />
Inmarsat family of services available<br />
commercially. The aviation Swift-64 service<br />
is a dial-on-demand service and is being<br />
upgraded to the Swift Broadband (SB)<br />
Inmarsat service. All Inmarsat services<br />
to the Coast Guard are supported 24/7<br />
by the InmarsatGov Network Operations<br />
Security Center (NOSC). Each Coast Guard<br />
asset with an Inmarsat terminal has a<br />
unique subscriber identity module (SIM)<br />
that allows tracking of air time. Inmarsat<br />
provides a database to the Coast Guard<br />
customer that allows tracking of SIM MB<br />
levels and performance and activity state of<br />
any Coast Guard terminal SIM.<br />
The USCG C4IT Service Center,<br />
Telecommunications Information Systems<br />
Command has a requirement to provide<br />
connectivity to the Coast Guard Data<br />
Network (CGONE) to mobile assets (cutters,<br />
Broadband Services<br />
airplanes and portable networking kits).<br />
These assets when underway, airborne<br />
or deployed abroad leverage Inmarsat’s<br />
Advances Services (Fleet BGAN) portfolio<br />
of air time and support services to provide<br />
the path to the Coast Guard Multi-Protocol<br />
Labeled Switching GuardianNet network.<br />
The GuardianNet network then backhauls<br />
all Inmarsat Advances Services connections<br />
to the CGONE network. The entire path<br />
thus allows our forward deployed units<br />
the ability to conduct their multi-mission<br />
tasking. This design and connectivity path<br />
is installed and has been in effect since<br />
2009.<br />
The Coast Guard is seeking a contract<br />
to obtain Inmarsat Advanced Service (Fleet<br />
Broadband, Swift Broadband, BGAN) data<br />
single corporate access plans (SCAPs). It<br />
is the Coast Guard’s intension to purchase<br />
air time for up to 50 cutters and up to 40<br />
aircraft. There will be airtime SCAPS for<br />
each service (FB, SB, BGAN) and the NOSC<br />
and database SIM/SCAP tracking will not<br />
be charged.<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 3
NAV NOTES<br />
Compiled by <strong>KMI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
Sniper Simulation<br />
Laser Shot provides a sniper simulator known<br />
as the long range precision shooting simulator<br />
(LRPSS). The simulated rifle which has the ability<br />
to come with recoil or non-recoil functions contains<br />
sensors to allow for trigger pressure, butt stock<br />
pressure, the canting of the weapon, ammunition<br />
loaded or unloaded, etc. The Laser Shot’s Series<br />
II weapon technology allows for customization of<br />
various sniper rifles based on customer needs. The<br />
rifle can facilitate two types of modified optics, the<br />
simulated ACOG and the simulated rifle scope and<br />
can be built in custom mountable scopes. There is<br />
also an optional simulated spotter scope.<br />
The combined optics give the sniper a high<br />
definition 1280x1024 in-optic micro-display that<br />
emulates a real world tactical environment.<br />
LRPSS uses Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2) simulation<br />
software, which uses real-world ballistics<br />
effects built into its engine, including bullet drop,<br />
windage, variety of calibers, shooters angle, and the<br />
capability for Laser Shot to customize the ballistic<br />
engine to the snipers requirements.<br />
Coast Guard Academy<br />
Christens New<br />
Research Vessel<br />
On April 26, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy christened<br />
the Michael J. Greeley, a new research vessel.<br />
The vessel will greatly expand the academy’s capabilities<br />
to conduct oceanographic research that will<br />
enhance the marine science curriculum. The Michael<br />
J. Greeley is capable of performing long-distance<br />
trips, enabling coursework to take place not only in<br />
the Thames River but also in Long Island Sound and<br />
beyond. Expanded field operations are expected to<br />
translate into expanded laboratory operations, which<br />
will enhance hands-on learning opportunities for<br />
cadets.<br />
The vessel was acquired as a gift from the U.S.<br />
Coast Guard Academy Class of ‘61 through the U.S.<br />
Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association. The engines<br />
and hydraulic equipment was supplied by the U.S.<br />
Coast Guard Academy. The boat was designed by<br />
Response Marine, Inc., Newburyport, Mass., and built<br />
by Viking Welding and Fabrication in Kensington, N.H.<br />
The vessel will be operated by personnel, active<br />
duty and civilian, who successfully complete the qualification<br />
training program.<br />
Aids to Navigation Team’s New Facility<br />
The commander of Coast Guard Sector Charleston, Captain Michael White, and members<br />
of Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) Georgetown formally celebrated the completion<br />
of the ANT’s new facility, located adjacent to Station Georgetown, during a building<br />
dedication ceremony.<br />
Members of ANT Georgetown previously shared a small one-room workspace with Station<br />
Georgetown.<br />
Improvements include offices for each member of the ANT Georgetown command, ample<br />
space to conduct training and an enclosed garage bay with a machine shop where the ANT’s<br />
boat can be maintained and repaired in any weather.<br />
The new building will enable ANT Georgetown to improve its service to the community<br />
and is more conducive to daily operations, said ANT Georgetown Officer in Charge, Petty<br />
Officer 1st Class David Browne. It was custom-built to support the ANT’s primary mission<br />
of servicing and maintaining roughly 250 navigational aids used by mariners to mark safe<br />
passages.<br />
This is the first time ANT Georgetown has been in its own building, and during the<br />
ceremony White told the ANT members the new building is their home, highlighting the fact<br />
that they now have the right spaces with the right equipment.<br />
The entire process, from planning to completion, took about five years, said Browne.<br />
H-65 Automatic Flight Control System<br />
The Coast Guard operates a fleet of 101<br />
H-65 aircraft. In 2004, a major acquisition to<br />
modernize the USCG’s H-65 helicopter was initiated<br />
as part of the Deepwater Project. This project<br />
was later subdivided into six discrete segments to<br />
increase capability and extend the life expectancy<br />
of the H-65 aircraft. The final phase of the<br />
project, known as Discrete Segment 6 (DS 6),<br />
addresses the remaining subsystem obsolescence<br />
issues including installation of the common<br />
avionics architecture system and modernizing<br />
the aging and increasingly unreliable analog<br />
automatic flight control system (AFCS) in the<br />
H-65. This procurement to upgrade the AFCS<br />
system is one of the last steps in the modernization<br />
process. The improved aircraft will be<br />
designated as the MH-65E.<br />
A system specification has been developed<br />
for the acquisition of a replacement AFCS for<br />
the H-65 aircraft. The replacement AFCS will<br />
be installed, tested, and refined in accordance<br />
with a government defined integration plan. The<br />
Coast Guard is seeking a contractor that has and<br />
can install a new AFCS system, ideally a drop-in<br />
installation capable of being done by a field team<br />
at an operational unit.<br />
4 | CGF 5.1<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
VIEW FROM THE HILL<br />
Doing Something<br />
with Nothing<br />
By Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.)<br />
During my tenure in Congress, I have had many opportunities<br />
to reflect on my career in the United States Coast Guard. As a past<br />
chairman and longtime member of the Coast Guard and Maritime<br />
Transportation Subcommittee in the House Committee on Transportation<br />
and Infrastructure, [I know that] decisions are regularly made<br />
regarding mission analysis and strategic asset capabilities. Memories of<br />
one of my most enjoyable mission assignments also lead me to articulate<br />
a great concern with our high-latitude region presence. Despite<br />
the Coast Guard’s reputation of doing more with less, I am convinced<br />
that our current asset deployment in the Arctic Region is exceptionally<br />
inadequate.<br />
In June 1956, I was able to utilize a mutual transfer that resulted in<br />
my assignment to the USCGC Northwind as it made its way to the Arctic<br />
Region to resupply ships and radar stations. Known as the Grand<br />
Old Lady of the North, the Northwind had a top speed of 13 knots<br />
and measured 269 feet. For a Yeoman 2nd Class from the Piedmont<br />
of North Carolina, this was truly an adventure, as I bid farewell to the<br />
brown bears of my home state and hello to polar bears in the Arctic.<br />
Many of the Coasties from that era still remember that the Order of the<br />
Blue Nose was an honor, although at times a little bit uncomfortable.<br />
Time has moved on and our mission requirements have increased.<br />
Unfortunately, our asset capabilities haven’t kept pace. As recent analysis<br />
by ABS Consulting has shown, the capacity gap leaves four areas of<br />
responsibility vulnerable to mission degradation: defense readiness, ice<br />
operations, marine environmental protection, and ports, waterways,<br />
and coastal security. We need to rethink our asset capabilities going<br />
forward.<br />
Currently we have one icebreaker in service, and that is only a<br />
medium icebreaker. The USCGC Healy carries the statutory mission’s<br />
workload that should be assigned to a minimum of three heavy and<br />
three medium icebreakers. While Healy’s expected service life reaches<br />
to 2030, the Coast Guard’s two heavy icebreakers, which were commissioned<br />
in 1976 and 1977, remain out of active service. Polar Sea is in<br />
an inactive status with no plans to reactive her. Polar Star is currently<br />
being reactivated for service later next year with an expected service<br />
life of seven to 10 years.<br />
Coast Guard’s icebreakers play an important role in supporting<br />
and protecting United States interests in the Polar regions. Let’s look<br />
at the six national objectives established by National Security Presidential<br />
Directive 66 and Homeland Security Directive 25:<br />
1. Meet national security and homeland security needs relevant to<br />
the Arctic region.<br />
2. Protect the Arctic environment and conserve its biological<br />
resources.<br />
3. Ensure that natural resource management and economic<br />
development in the region are environmentally sustainable.<br />
4. Strengthen institutions for cooperation among the eight Arctic<br />
nations (the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland,<br />
Norway, the Russian Federation and Sweden).<br />
5. Involve the Arctic’s indigenous communities in decisions that<br />
affect them.<br />
6. Enhance scientific monitoring and research into local, regional<br />
and global environmental issues.<br />
Given the national objectives stated above, you begin to imagine<br />
the magnitude of the task at hand and the incredibly vast area the<br />
Coast Guard has to monitor. Six percent of the planet’s surface is covered<br />
by the Arctic Circle, which is comprised of an ice sheet four times<br />
the size of Texas. Some 15.5 million square miles are covered by the<br />
Arctic Ocean, which hosts a population of approximately 1.5 million<br />
inhabitants. Maintaining a strategic presence over this vast expanse of<br />
land is far beyond our current capability.<br />
Two areas of U.S. interest, political and economic, will also help<br />
amplify future responsibility. Oil and gas exploration, oil and gas<br />
recovery, and the addition of potential shipping lanes will expand<br />
Coast Guard obligations, as will the incident risk made more possible<br />
by international claims on territorial seas. The five nations that claim<br />
these rights are the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway and the<br />
Russian Federation. In addition, Iceland, Sweden and Norway also<br />
assert rights to territories above the Arctic Circle.<br />
In examining theoretical mixes of Coast Guard assets, including<br />
icebreakers, helicopters and forward operating locations, it was determined<br />
that a build-out of the icebreaker fleet, along with improved<br />
communications, medium range aircraft and advanced aviation locations<br />
in Alaska could be a suitable foundation for future operations<br />
in the Arctic. Further risk analysis shows that these theoretical force<br />
packages, based on fleet increases, could be used to counter future<br />
Arctic incidents and would greatly magnify the effectiveness of current<br />
assets operating in the Bering Sea.<br />
In plain language, we need to make a real effort to increase the<br />
number of icebreakers in service before the situation deteriorates<br />
further. In the dwindling days of our mission in Afghanistan, it would<br />
be a prudent use of those savings to invest $3 billion over the next<br />
two appropriation cycles to guarantee our mission compliance. Doing<br />
more with less is a source of pride for all Coasties. Due to lack of attention<br />
to this problem, however, our mission has evolved into doing<br />
something with nothing. Semper paratus indeed, but we need to be<br />
fully funded, too. O<br />
For more information, contact Editor-In-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or<br />
search our online archives for related stories at www.cgf-kmi.com.<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 5
An oil spill can be disastrous, but the response can be the measure<br />
of the event.<br />
By Peter Buxbaum<br />
CGF Correspondent<br />
It might be hard to believe, but some good actually<br />
emerged from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and<br />
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Because of the magnitude<br />
of the incident, British Petroleum, the owner of the well,<br />
was motivated to call upon companies to provide ideas for<br />
containing and cleaning up the spill. As a result, future oil<br />
cleanup crews will have new options on how to respond to<br />
a spill.<br />
6 | CGF 5.1<br />
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The explosion that tore through BP’s drilling rig on April 20,<br />
2010, began a human, economic and environmental disaster. An<br />
oil discharge continued for 84 days, resulting in the largest oil<br />
spill in U.S. waters, an estimated 206 million gallons. Eleven crew<br />
members died on that day and others were seriously injured. BP<br />
recently agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in the deaths of<br />
the 11 and to pay $4 billion in penalties.<br />
BP also funded the response activities, led by the U.S. Coast<br />
Guard and supported by other federal agencies as well as state and<br />
local governments, and paid out claims to injured parties estimated<br />
to eventually total close to $22 billion. As recently as January<br />
2013, over 900 response personnel were still on duty and 339<br />
miles of shoreline remained subject to evaluation and/or cleanup.<br />
When a major oil spill occurs, teams provided by local, state<br />
and federal agencies act to contain and clean up the spill, and to<br />
minimize damage to health and the environment. This National<br />
Response System is activated when the National Response Center<br />
receives notification of an oil spill. The National Response Center<br />
(NRC), a multi-department entity hosted at Coast Guard headquarters<br />
in Washington, D.C., gets the first word when an oil spill<br />
occurs.<br />
The Deepwater Horizon incident represents the largest and<br />
most disastrous oil spill in U.S. history. Not every oil spill is as<br />
tragic or impactful, but they occur with regularity. According to<br />
figures supplied by the National Response Center, 32,551 oil and<br />
chemical spills were reported in 2012. That annual figure has<br />
remained fairly steady in the last 12 years. Since 2000, the number<br />
of spills reported in any given year has varied between 31,886 in<br />
2009 and 36,855 in 2006.<br />
If any good can be said to have flowed from Deepwater Horizon,<br />
it is that new technologies for containing and cleaning up oil<br />
spills have come to light, thanks to the call by BP to companies<br />
that could help in the cleanup efforts. Of some 140,000 ideas submitted<br />
to BP, 15 went through an evaluation process and an even<br />
smaller number were actually deployed to the Gulf during the<br />
disaster. Two of the companies BP called on to help in the cleanup<br />
were C.I.Agent Solutions, a company based in Louisville, Ky., and<br />
UltraTech International Inc., headquartered in San Jose, Calif.<br />
“Before the Gulf oil disaster, everyone had been using the<br />
same technology for 20 years,” said Mark Shaw, co-president of<br />
UltraTech. “BP provided an opportunity for new technologies to<br />
be explored.”<br />
C.I.Agent was stationed on Dauphin Island, Ala., beginning on<br />
April 26, less than a week after the explosion. Together with the<br />
Alabama National Guard, C.I.Agent personnel built a six-mile oilwater<br />
separator, a barrier created to allow the use of the company’s<br />
blend of polymers that solidifies hydrocarbons into a recyclable<br />
rubber-like mass.<br />
“We ended up not using any polymer,” said Dan Parker,<br />
C.I.Agent Solutions’ founder and president, “because the oil never<br />
reached Dauphin Island. We built the barrier to separate the oil<br />
from the water if the oil sheen made its way to the beach.”<br />
The National Response System was set up in 1968 pursuant to<br />
the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency<br />
Plan (National Contingency Plan, or NCP, for short) to provide<br />
planning and organization to efforts to deal with large oil spills.<br />
The NRC was set up later, becoming operational in August 1974,<br />
for the reporting and coordination of response to pollution by oil<br />
and hazardous substances.<br />
The National Response System, a network of individuals and<br />
teams from local, state and federal agencies, combine their expertise<br />
and resources to ensure that oil spill control and cleanup activities<br />
are timely, efficient and minimize threats to human health<br />
and the environment. The system includes on-scene coordinators<br />
(OSCs), a national response team and regional response teams.<br />
OSCs are federal officials responsible for directing response<br />
actions and coordinating all other efforts at the scene of a discharge<br />
or spill. They also work in partnership with other federal, state,<br />
local and private response agencies. OSCs come from the Coast<br />
Guard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S.<br />
Department of Energy or the U.S. Department of Defense, depending<br />
on the location and nature of the spill.<br />
The Coast Guard and EPA have the greatest responsibility for<br />
responding to oil spill emergencies. “When a spill occurs in coastal<br />
waters, the local Coast Guard port commander is the OSC,” said<br />
Syed Qadir, the director of the National Response Center. “When a<br />
spill occurs in an inland area, such as a spill from a pipeline or rail<br />
tank car, a regional EPA official is assigned as the OSC. The OSC<br />
is responsible for assessment, monitoring, response assistance and<br />
reporting.”<br />
When a spill occurs, the organization responsible for the<br />
release or spill is required by law to notify the NRC if the amount<br />
of a hazardous substance release or oil spill exceeds the established<br />
reporting trigger. “Once a report is made, the NRC immediately<br />
notifies an OSC,” said Qadir. “The OSC determines the status of the<br />
response by state and local government responders and the company<br />
responsible for the release or spill. The OSC also monitors the<br />
situation to determine whether, or how much, federal involvement<br />
is necessary.”<br />
The NRC itself is composed of representatives from 16 federal<br />
agencies. Although located at Coast Guard headquarters, the NRC<br />
is not a Coast Guard unit but is considered to be an independent<br />
federal government entity. “The costs and operations of the center<br />
are supported by these several federal agencies,” said Qadir. Qadir<br />
himself happens to be a Coast Guard employee.<br />
“The NRC is strictly a communications and operations center,”<br />
said Qadir. “The response is taken care of by the on-scene coordinator.<br />
We facilitate and coordinate communications with the national<br />
response team. The NRC briefs the White House, the Department<br />
of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Transportation regarding<br />
significant transportation emergencies reported to the center.<br />
We also provide information to the Coast Guard’s Office of Marine<br />
Safety, Security, and Environmental Protection for a variety of<br />
reports, studies or Congressional inquiries.”<br />
Both UltraTech International and C.I.Agent Solutions have<br />
developed materials that can isolate oil spills and separate oil from<br />
water so that the oil can be removed and cleaned up. In addition,<br />
UltraTech cultivates and markets specialized microbes which can<br />
actually metabolize hydrocarbons.<br />
“We created an oil fencing product that acts like a fence around<br />
a construction site,” said Shaw. “During Deepwater, BP deployed<br />
this fencing in the water close to the water line so that, as the surf<br />
rose and fell, the oil could be captured in the fabric and removed<br />
so that it would not reach the beach.” BP bought 30 miles of<br />
UltraTech’s oil boom product and placed it along the shore lines of<br />
Mississippi and Louisiana.<br />
The booms, made from UltraTech’s Ultra-X-Tex fabric, differs<br />
from its predecessors in that it absorbs both oil and water but then<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 7
expels the water as it is replaced by oil. “Older fabrics are made<br />
with polypropylene absorbents that repel water and then absorb<br />
oil,” said Shaw. “The problem with these is that the water gets in<br />
the way of the oil. The water can’t pass through the fabric and it<br />
gets blown out of the way. Our patented fabric absorbs both oil<br />
and water but then selectively retains the oil and lets the water<br />
molecules go through.”<br />
Ultra-X-Tex, which has been in use for 10 years for storm water<br />
management, was deployed for the first time in connection with<br />
an oil spill during the Gulf disaster. The fabric has the capacity to<br />
absorb two-thirds of a gallon per square yard. “Once they are saturated<br />
they can be removed and replaced,” said Shaw. “An industrial<br />
wringer can remove 80 percent of the oil out of fabric and it can be<br />
reused, or it can be incinerated.”<br />
C.I.Agent’s solidifiers are polymers listed on the EPA NCP<br />
product schedule and have been approved for work on oil spills in<br />
open waters. “There are certain conditions attached to this,” said<br />
Parker. “The spill has to be contained, meaning a boom had to be<br />
put out first, it has to be recovered, and it can’t be put on animals.”<br />
C.I.Agent has a partner company in Australia that invented<br />
a cannon-like device to disperse the polymers through a water<br />
stream. Coast Guards in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions have<br />
used this system to contain oil spills there. The water cannon was<br />
also used in connection with the Gulf cleanup.<br />
C.I.Agent solidifying polymers works on a full spectrum of<br />
hydrocarbons, from gasoline to crude oil.<br />
The polymers solidify and detoxify hydrocarbons upon contact<br />
for spill control. Hydrocarbons solidified become non-hazardous<br />
and float on the water. “Solidified hydrocarbons can be reused in<br />
various industrial applications, for example in asphalt, or burned<br />
as fuel,” said Parker.<br />
Once the spill matter has been solidified, responders can use<br />
skimmers to clean it up. “We are getting recovery of over 90 percent<br />
of the material with this process,” said Parker.<br />
Oil spills need to be contained or fenced in before the polymers<br />
are applied. This job can be accomplished with the C.I.Agent<br />
Barrier Boom. The boom allows the unimpeded flow of water but<br />
becomes an impervious barrier in the event of an oil release. The<br />
barrier boom is constructed from non-woven geo-textiles filled<br />
with C.I.Agent granules and backed with Agent-X, a non-woven<br />
geo-textile material with C.I.Agent embedded within the fabric.<br />
In addition to the oil-water separator, the company deployed<br />
three new products during the Gulf oil spill cleanup and containment<br />
efforts. C.I.Agent CLAM (continuous low-level aquatic monitoring)<br />
is a submersible extraction sampler to sequester pesticides,<br />
herbicides and other trace organic materials from the water.<br />
C.I.Agent Hydrocarbon Detection Strips determine the presence<br />
of hydrocarbons in water. When the strip is introduced into a<br />
potential hydrocarbon situation, the light blue strip turns a darker<br />
blue if hydrocarbons are present. The color intensity and size of<br />
the darker blue areas are indications of the quantity of hydrocarbons<br />
contained in the sample. The third new product used was the<br />
water cannon.<br />
UltraTech presented another technology to BP that the latter<br />
chose not to test but that Shaw claims can supercharge future<br />
oil cleanup efforts. “There was some discussion during the Gulf<br />
oil spill saying that 50 percent of the oil may have been eaten by<br />
naturally occurring microbes in the ocean,” he said.<br />
UltraTech has a product called UltraMicrobe which is made<br />
out of archaea, one of the oldest organisms. “It is the first microbe<br />
bioremediation agent on the NCP list,” said Shaw. “Research at<br />
Louisiana State University to test the effectiveness of various<br />
agents showed that the microbe destroyed 99.6 percent of the<br />
hydrocarbons and that the microbe was far better than anything<br />
out there.”<br />
UltraMicrobe is specifically cultivated for bioremediation in sea<br />
water, crude oil and ammonia. “That is what they grow up on,” said<br />
Shaw. “They are trained like Spartan warriors to destroy hydrocarbons.<br />
After they digest the toxic material, it comes out as carbon,<br />
hydrogen and a fatty acid, all benign, non-hazardous materials.”<br />
Given the frequency of oil spills, companies like UltraTech<br />
and C.I.Agent will have plenty of practice and proofs of concept<br />
in case another catastrophic spill like the Deepwater Horizons<br />
occurs. Government agencies and private companies also conduct<br />
exercises on a regular basis in which these newer technologies are<br />
put to the test.<br />
“BP is still stimulating a lot of activity in this area,” said<br />
Parker. “They are challenging us and working with us to come up<br />
with newer and better technologies.” O<br />
For more information, contact Editor-In-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or<br />
search our online archives for related stories at www.cgf-kmi.com.<br />
8 | CGF 5.1<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
Cleaner, Better<br />
Engines<br />
Fuel Efficiency<br />
maintenance cost<br />
cylinder use<br />
More power is not always the answer,<br />
but more efficient power can be.<br />
By Henry Canaday<br />
CGF Correspondent<br />
Engines for all Coast Guard vessels are heavily affected by the<br />
ongoing advances in emission rules, both in the U.S. and worldwide.<br />
These rules tend to tighten most and earliest for larger<br />
engines but will eventually affect engines of all sizes.<br />
Engine designers must meet emission rules, but should seek to<br />
do much more. Fuel efficiency, reliability, low maintenance cost,<br />
size and weight are also important considerations for customers<br />
and thus engine makers.<br />
The first requirement of good design is to achieve emission<br />
goals without giving up too much in fuel efficiency or other objectives.<br />
Often, a new design may actually gain along other dimensions<br />
while it reaches tougher environmental goals.<br />
Much engine design is still in flux. Some future emission<br />
requirements are known and design is well along in development.<br />
Other requirements, especially for smaller engines, are still not<br />
certain, and some design decisions must still be made. Engine<br />
makers are thus at different points on the design curve, depending<br />
partly on what kinds of engines they manufacture.<br />
Most engine makers tend to be very proud of their products.<br />
“We do it better than the next guy,” said Karl Sandstrom, project<br />
leader for BRP’s Outboard Engines Division. “Evinrude E-TEC<br />
is the cleanest, most efficient and powerful technology available<br />
today.”<br />
While many competitive engines are four-stroke, E-TEC outboards<br />
features a direct-injection, two-stroke design that provides<br />
a smaller and lighter package. “A lightweight engine is important<br />
to the way a boat handles while navigating through varying sea<br />
conditions, cruising, running full speed or even coming on or off<br />
plane,” Sandstrom said.<br />
Offering a direct-injected, two-stroke design also means E-TEC<br />
engines are very powerful at low-end torque because there is one<br />
power stroke for every revolution, rather than one for every other<br />
revolution as in four-stroke engines. “In fact, E-TEC outboards<br />
produce so much low-end torque that you typically can plane a<br />
larger twin-engine boat with only one engine, without having to<br />
change the propeller,” Sandstrom said. “That kind of power can be<br />
important to the Coast Guard when having to operate in heavy seas<br />
or when rescuing or towing other vessels.”<br />
E-TEC outboards also feature an advanced two-stage form of<br />
direct fuel injection (DFI) that includes both stratified and homogeneous<br />
combustion. In the stratified mode, an onboard computer<br />
instructs the spark plug to ignite the fuel charge immediately as it<br />
enters the combustion chamber. This uses only a small portion of<br />
the cylinder, effectively allowing the engine to operate like a much<br />
smaller engine.<br />
Not available on any four-stroke outboard, stratified combustion<br />
is featured on all E-TEC engines at slower operating speeds,<br />
providing superior fuel efficiency and greater range. “Superior efficiency<br />
at lower throttle settings is important because based on the<br />
ICOMIA [International Council of Marine Industry Associations]<br />
duty cycle, the industry standard used by the U.S. EPA [Environmental<br />
Protection Agency], an average boater operates their engine<br />
at idle speed about 40 percent of the time,” Sandstrom noted.<br />
In addition to unsurpassed fuel economy, stratified combustion<br />
has the additional benefits of lower emissions and fewer fumes,<br />
which can be particularly important when operating at slow speeds<br />
or in a following sea. At idle speeds, an E-TEC emits up to 80 times<br />
less carbon monoxide than a typical competitor’s four-stroke outboard.<br />
“It’s very efficient. The stratified mode makes the combustion<br />
process and running quality very controlled and very clean,”<br />
Sandstrom explained.<br />
If operators have a 300-horsepower engine, they do not need<br />
300 horsepower at idle. But when more power is needed, the E-TEC<br />
computer shifts to homogenous combustion, so fuel passes by an<br />
unlit spark plug, fills up the entire chamber and is then ignited by<br />
the plug. In the homogeneous mode, the engine is free to develop<br />
its full power potential.<br />
“All outboard engines are much better than they were 20 or<br />
even 10 years ago,” Sandstrom acknowledged. But E-TEC twostroke<br />
engines also yield very low maintenance costs. There is no<br />
break-in period. “You do not have to bring it in for a 10- or 20-hour<br />
check, and there is no annual service to change the oil, adjust or<br />
change belts or adjust the valves like our competitors’ engines.”<br />
E-TEC engines only require dealer-scheduled maintenance once<br />
every three years or 300 hours, instead of the annual service that<br />
most boaters have come to expect. And an E-TEC’s maintenance<br />
requirements are minimal, such as changing spark plugs, gear<br />
lube, water pump impeller and greasing fittings.<br />
Furthermore, the typical four-stroke engine needs a lengthy<br />
period for winterization, best done by a dealer, said Sandstrom.<br />
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“Our winterization is very simple, costs almost nothing and can be<br />
done by the user in a matter of minutes.”<br />
The alternators on E-TEC engines also produce substantial electric<br />
power. Smaller E-TEC engines generate 25 net amps, and the larger<br />
engines produce a full 50 net amps of battery charging power. “At<br />
1,000 RPM, our larger-horsepower engines deliver 30 net amps, and go<br />
on to produce a full 50 net amps at as little as 2,000 RPM,” Sandstrom<br />
said. “Many competitive offerings peak out at 25 or 30 amps.”<br />
Developing an abundance of amperage at idle speeds means that<br />
in virtually any situation, operators have positive amperage to the<br />
battery to compensate for the drain of onboard electronics so they are<br />
not running the batteries down. “That is important when you operate<br />
at low speeds with lots of electronic equipment like the Coast Guard<br />
does,” Sandstrom said.<br />
E-TEC technology generates this electrical power using a maintenance-free,<br />
under-the-flywheel magneto system instead of a beltdriven<br />
alternator, which means no adjustments and no chance of a belt<br />
breaking and needing to be replaced, reducing maintenance worries<br />
and costs.<br />
Maintenance costs are further reduced by solid protection against<br />
saltwater corrosion. E-TEC uses aluminum that has some of the lowest<br />
copper content in the industry and uses electro-deposition painting<br />
“to get it into every nook and cranny of aluminum parts,” Sandstrom<br />
said. Extensive use of stainless steel with fasteners and major components<br />
helps ensure long engine life, even in the harshest saltwater<br />
conditions.<br />
All E-TEC engines are built with the same technology, and<br />
Sandstrom said the entire line has more parts commonality than<br />
competitive engine lines. “Diagnostics are the same; if you can<br />
work on one, you can work on them all.” And all the engines are<br />
built in Wisconsin.<br />
New EPA regulations in January 2013 tightened emission<br />
requirements in some respect. Beyond 2013, “nothing definitive<br />
has been approved,” for the engine sizes BRP makes, Sandstrom<br />
said. BRP speculates that the EPA may move toward emission levels<br />
similar to those now applied to automobiles, and this would<br />
require a catalytic converter. “We estimate additional legislation<br />
may be implemented somewhere around 2018, and required levels<br />
may go to 5 grams per kilowatt hour from the current 16 per<br />
kWh,” Sandstrom said. “That would require a catalytic converter<br />
for both two- and four-stroke engines.” Sandstrom added that<br />
“when and if that level of emissions is required, Evinrude E-TEC<br />
technology will be ready and will continue to lead the industry in<br />
cleaner-running outboard technology.”<br />
In addition to the full line of Evinrude E-TEC outboards,<br />
BRP also offers a special line of multi-fuel engines built and<br />
engineered to U.S. military specifications. “Our MFE engines<br />
are true, multi-fuel engines. They can run on gasoline, JP5,<br />
JP8, kerosene and even diesel—in a combat emergency,” said<br />
Justin Antolini, BRP’s government sales manager. “These highly<br />
advanced and vertatile engines are available in traditional propeller<br />
and jet pump versions, have been deployed in mulitple<br />
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theatres across the globe and offer our military personnel the<br />
flexibility of changing from conventional gasoline to heavy fuels<br />
at any given time.”<br />
Cummins engine design has been driven chiefly by emission<br />
regulations, initially voluntary but increasingly mandatory<br />
since the U.S. signed International Maritime Organization (IMO)<br />
Annex 6 and the EPA started its Tier 2 rules in 2004, explained<br />
Marine Product Planning Manager Eddie Brown. “Today we are<br />
going from Tier 2 to Tier 3 and we are in the process of upgrading<br />
to meet these requirements,” Brown said.<br />
When redesigning engines to meet new emission rules, Cummins<br />
also looks at other ways to add value for customers or to<br />
respond to any issues raised. And emission rules can pose some<br />
tough design problems. “One challenge in meeting emission<br />
rules is to keep fuel efficiency up. You also want the engine to be<br />
durable, reliable and affordable to service,” Brown noted.<br />
Coast Guard cutters typically have propulsion requirements<br />
that are outside Cummins’ current power range. However the<br />
company can provide auxiliary power packages to generate<br />
emergency or ship power, as it does for the Sentinel-Class fast<br />
response cutter with 5.9-liter engines.<br />
For the future, Chief Engineer-Commercial Marine Mike<br />
Aufdermauer is looking at how to meet EPA Tier 4 rules, which<br />
have been issued for the engine sizes Cummins makes. He said<br />
Cummins will meet tougher limits on particulates “in cylinder”—that<br />
is, with changes in fuel injection and piston geometry,<br />
rather than with particulate traps or filters. To meet the limit<br />
of 2 grams of nitrogen oxide set for larger engines, Cummins<br />
will need selective catalytic reduction (SCR). This limit applies<br />
to engines of more than 600 kW capacity and goes into effect at<br />
different dates, from 2014 to 2017, for different-sized engines.<br />
For engines above 2,000 kW, Tier 4 starts in 2014.<br />
Aufdermauer said Cummins is studying how to meet Tier 4<br />
even as it develops Tier-3 engines. “We have proven our technology<br />
can meet Tier 3 and then we will introduce SCR for Tier 4.”<br />
A modified common-rail system for direct-fuel injection will be<br />
optimized for both emissions and fuel efficiency. “We are looking<br />
to gain back some fuel efficiency. That is why we chose SCR<br />
technology, to gain back some fuel efficiency.”<br />
Aufdermauer estimates that this approach will reduce the<br />
overall cost of ownership by 5 percent, including both fuel consumption<br />
and urea in diesel exhaust fluids.<br />
Emission rules affect everything engines designer do now. “In<br />
the past, you could put a product on the market for years with no<br />
change,” the Cummins engineer said. “Now you have to change<br />
for emissions and look at durability, reliability and efficiency and<br />
take those into account.”<br />
Apart from meeting new emission requirements, Cummins<br />
is also working on expanding its power range. The company now<br />
makes engines from 6.7 to 60 liters, or 150 to 2,700 horsepower.<br />
In 2017 it will introduce a V16 at 95 liters and is also planning<br />
on a V12 at 79 liters and a V20 at 120 liters.<br />
“Tognum is currently the leading provider of high speed diesel<br />
engine-based propulsion systems to the U.S. Coast Guard,”<br />
said Bernard Bentgen, government and naval sales director,<br />
Tognum America Inc. “MTU engines power the recently-commissioned<br />
Sentinel-class cutter USCGC Bernard C. Webber and the<br />
national security cutter USCGC Stratton, and several additional<br />
new cutters in each of those classes.”<br />
Tognum’s MTU engines are designed and built with leadingedge<br />
technology, such as electronically controlled common rail<br />
fuel injection and sequential turbocharging. This technology<br />
reduces emissions while improving performance and fuel efficiency.<br />
The MTU brand is more than 100 years old and has a long<br />
legacy of excellence in marine propulsion systems.<br />
Engine designers have long sought the perfect mix of power<br />
and efficiency. “MTU engines have featured common-rail fuel<br />
injection systems since 1996,” said Bentgen. “This innovative<br />
technology has resulted in diesel engines that are more efficient,<br />
cleaner and more powerful.”<br />
Tognum America has an extensive network of independent distributors<br />
and service providers that provide service and support for<br />
all MTU customers. “In addition, the MTU training center in Canton,<br />
Mich., provides detailed service and maintenance training on<br />
all MTU marine engines for Coast Guard personnel,” said Bentgen.<br />
The Coast Guard purchases a broad range of Mercury Marine<br />
outboard motors, from 25 horsepower all the way to 300 horsepower,<br />
for a variety of operational craft, explained Jeff Krueger,<br />
director of sales, service & marketing for racing, commercial and<br />
government. The 300-horsepower model is used mostly for homeland<br />
security boats and interceptors; 150-horsepower engines propel<br />
surface boats, and 25-horsepower engines propel flat-bottom<br />
boats.<br />
Krueger said Mercury outboards are available in low-emission,<br />
two-stroke models as well as four-stroke electronic fuel injection<br />
and four-stroke supercharged models. “We also offer a specialty<br />
two-stroke DFI outboard that is capable of running on multiple<br />
fuels such as kerosene, commercial Jet A and military JP fuels.”<br />
Krueger said Mercury will continue to engineer outboard and<br />
stern-drive products to meet and exceed current and future emission<br />
regulations, both domestic and international. “There are a<br />
series of steps in putting new emission requirements in place. We<br />
intend to stay well ahead of the curve.” The Mercury exec believes<br />
his line of engines is distinguished by its performance, advanced<br />
technology and reliability. “These are the key factors that keep<br />
Mercury Marine ahead of the competition.”<br />
“From a technological standpoint, Caterpillar, along with<br />
its peers in the industry, is constantly working to meet the latest<br />
level of emissions standards imposed both domestically and<br />
worldwide,” said Darrell Kuhne, manager, Global Governmental<br />
Marine, of Caterpillar Defense & Federal Products. “Currently, we<br />
are addressing the Tier 3 and Tier 4 standards.”<br />
Depending on what needs to be done to meet these requirements,<br />
Caterpillar will modify each platform accordingly. “This<br />
may involve anything from little or no modification up to the<br />
addition of accessories to achieve the desired level of emissions,”<br />
Kuhne said. Both requirements and modifications will vary<br />
depending on size of engine.<br />
Kuhne said Caterpillar invests hundreds of millions of dollars<br />
annually in research and development to enhance its engines and<br />
improve cost of ownership. It also looks at global trends and tries<br />
to position its product in line with these. O<br />
For more information, contact Editor-In-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or<br />
search our online archives for related stories at www.cgf-kmi.com.<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 11
On Thin Ice<br />
Changing Arctic sea ice patterns,traffic create<br />
greater need for icebreakers.<br />
By John M. Doyle<br />
CGF Correspondent<br />
The sea ice in the Arctic has been melting in the summer at a<br />
faster rate than ever before, opening up new sea lanes for cargo,<br />
cruise and warships crossing the top of the world.<br />
But with increased traffic comes the increased risk of an<br />
accident or emergency and an increased need for icebreakers to<br />
smash their way through the walls of ice that still form in the<br />
waters of the High North.<br />
Russia, Canada and other countries that border the Arctic<br />
have, or are building, new icebreakers, while China, which desperately<br />
wants to find shorter, Arctic sea routes to Western markets,<br />
has one icebreaker and is building another.<br />
But the United States has had only one medium icebreaker for<br />
the last two years. That is about to change. The 399-foot heavy<br />
icebreaker, Coast Guard Heavy Icebreaker Polar Star, is rejoining<br />
the Coast Guard fleet this year after $56 million in repairs and<br />
upgrades at Vigor Shipyards in Seattle.<br />
“Commercial, shipping and industrial activity<br />
is increasing in Arctic waters each year,” said<br />
Vigor Industrial Chief Executive Officer Frank Foti,<br />
explaining that the Portland, Ore.-based parent of<br />
Vigor Shipyards expects increased activity in the<br />
Arctic to drive demand for a range of shipbuilding<br />
and repair services—including icebreakers.<br />
According to Coast Guard documents, the<br />
United States has a vital national interest in<br />
maintaining robust polar icebreaking capability<br />
to ensure “year-round Coast Guard presence in<br />
these important waters.” In submitting its budget<br />
request for fiscal year 2013, the Coast Guard noted “the criticality<br />
of the Arctic as a strategic national priority, given the increasing<br />
presence and interest by other nations, the preponderance of<br />
natural resources … and increasing maritime commercial and<br />
recreational activity.”<br />
Frank Foti<br />
With that growth, Foti said, “the need for additional U.S. icebreakers<br />
will only grow. Better icebreaking capacity is critical to keeping all<br />
those people safe and maintaining the nation’s ability to respond to<br />
emergencies.” He added: “That capacity can only come from expanding<br />
the American icebreaker fleet.”<br />
The Polar Star (WAGB-10), which can break through ice up to 6<br />
feet thick at a speed of three knots, will be joining the USCGC Healy, a<br />
medium, or polar, icebreaker that made headlines last year creating a<br />
path through Arctic waters for a Russian fuel tanker bringing heating<br />
oil and gasoline to icebound Nome, Alaska. At 420 feet long and displacing<br />
16,000 tons, the Healy is considered only a medium icebreaker<br />
because it can only crack ice 4.5 feet thick at 3 knots. The Polar Star’s<br />
sister ship, the Polar Sea (WAGB-11), which needs extensive engine<br />
repair or replacement as well as upgrades, remains in Vigor Shipyards,<br />
with its fate still undetermined. Both of the heavy icebreakers were<br />
built by Lockheed Shipbuilding of Seattle in the late<br />
1970s and both are well past their original service lifespan<br />
of 30 years. Lockheed left the shipbuilding business<br />
in the 1980s.<br />
The Coast Guard plans to keep the refurbished Polar<br />
Star in service until 2020, but notes that the need for<br />
heavy icebreaking capability will continue for the foreseeable<br />
future. The service, a unit of the Department of<br />
Homeland Security, is now in the preliminary phase of a<br />
new, heavy polar icebreaker acquisition project.<br />
“We would like to have two heavy endurance ones<br />
and one medium endurance [icebreaker] in the fleet,”<br />
<strong>Adm</strong>iral <strong>Robert</strong> J. <strong>Papp</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>., the Coast Guard commandant,<br />
said last month at the Surface Navy Association’s 25th annual<br />
symposium in Arlington, Va.<br />
For years now, <strong>Papp</strong> has been making the case for at least one<br />
additional heavy icebreaker and government reports and studies—<br />
including a 2010 analysis by the Coast Guard—have recommended<br />
12 | CGF 5.1<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
expanding the icebreaker fleet for national security, safety, scientific and<br />
environmental reasons.<br />
“Although polar ice is diminishing due to climate change,<br />
observers generally expect that this development will not eliminate<br />
the need for U.S. polar icebreakers and, in some respects, might<br />
increase the mission demands for them,” a December 12, 2012 Congressional<br />
Research Service report on Coast Guard polar icebreaker<br />
modernization said.<br />
Fiscal<br />
Year<br />
Cost<br />
Category<br />
FY2013<br />
FY2014<br />
Totals<br />
($000s)<br />
2014 Design $2,000 $1,000 $3,000<br />
2015<br />
Program<br />
Management<br />
System<br />
Engineering &<br />
Integration<br />
Program<br />
Management<br />
$2,000 $2,000<br />
$2,000 $2,000<br />
$1,000 $1,000<br />
Total $6,000 $2,000 $8,000<br />
The Coast Guard is in the process of developing a formal mission<br />
need statement, a concept of operations and an operational requirements<br />
document for a detailed acquisition project plan. At least two<br />
large shipbuilders in addition to Vigor are interested in building the<br />
new heavy icebreaker—depending on what the Coast Guard has in<br />
mind and whether it gets the funding from Congress in these times<br />
of fiscal restraint.<br />
Michael Carroll, vice president for operations at STX US Marine<br />
in Houston, said his company has already had discussions with the<br />
U.S. Coast Guard about the Polar Class 2 (heavy) ice breaker STX<br />
Marine is building for Canada’s Coast Guard. “They’re interested in<br />
our polar class vessel. We’ve done presentations for<br />
them, showing our polar class icebreaker.”<br />
Together with its Finnish partner Aker Arctic<br />
Technologies—now part of STX Europe who have<br />
built or been involved in the design of over 60 percent<br />
of the world’s icebreakers. And Carroll thinks the<br />
market won’t be drying up anytime soon—even with<br />
climate change—“until it’s clear that icebreakers are<br />
not needed.”<br />
At Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), which<br />
now owns the Avondale Industries shipyard that built<br />
the Healy, there is definite interest in the next heavy<br />
icebreaker.<br />
“The commandant says that’s something they’re going to continue<br />
to make an investment in. It’s a unique ship. We have experience<br />
in building icebreakers,” said Jim French, manager of HII’s<br />
National Security Cutter program, which includes icebreakers.<br />
The Polar Sea and Polar Star were both built back in the 1970s,<br />
French noted, but the Healy was built in 1999, “so it’s much more<br />
advanced in the technology that went into outfitting it.”<br />
He noted that the Healy, even though it was designed as a<br />
medium endurance cutter, could be modified for use as a heavy<br />
icebreaker. “What we would do is simply look at what kinds of<br />
changes you would have to do to the skantlings [the structural<br />
strength of framing and structural supports like girders and I-beams]<br />
and everything in order to reinforce the steel for breaking the heavier<br />
RFI for Polar Icebreaker Replacement<br />
The Coast Guard’s Polar Icebreaker Replacement Project Office<br />
has issued a request for information as a means of market research<br />
for (A) candidate heavy polar icebreaker designs and (B) U.S.<br />
shipyards capable of building a heavy polar icebreaker. This RFI is<br />
issued as a precursor to a potential polar non-nuclear icebreaker<br />
procurement program and to initiate market research in assisting<br />
the USCG in developing an acquisition strategy for new construction<br />
of a potential non-nuclear heavy icebreakers.<br />
At a minimum, a candidate heavy icebreaker design must be<br />
able to perform the missions performed by the USCGC Polar Star. At<br />
a continuous speed of 3 knots, the Polar Star can break ice 6 feet<br />
thick, and by ramming, can break 21 feet pack ice.<br />
Prospective shipyards and ice breaker design must be based<br />
on: Information on candidate designs submitted must be based<br />
on: Proven, currently in-service vessels that are capable of being<br />
built in the U.S.; In-service vessel designs that are capable of<br />
being licensed for building in the U.S.; Variants of in-service vessel<br />
designs capable of being licensed in the U.S.; or For new designs or<br />
new construction, also include details regarding its current status<br />
and expected in-service date.<br />
While the Coast Guard will accept candidate designs from both<br />
domestic and international entities, the vessel must be able to be<br />
licensed to be built in the U.S.<br />
ice and, of course, you’d have to have a heavier propulsion system<br />
to maintain the speed through the heavier ice. In their prime, both<br />
the Polar Sea and Polar Star had more powerful engines than the<br />
Healy.”<br />
But that all depends on what the government decides to do,<br />
he cautioned. “We will follow the developments as<br />
it goes through the Coast Guard and Congress, and<br />
if additional monies are funded, then HII would be<br />
interested in following that development. And if an<br />
RFP [request for proposals] is issued, we would be<br />
interested in evaluating that, bidding on it and construction,”<br />
French said.<br />
In December, President Barack Obama signed into<br />
law the Coast Guard authorization bill that bars the<br />
decommissioning of the Polar Sea unless the Coast<br />
Guard conducts a study showing that scrapping the<br />
Michael Carroll vessel is the most cost-effective option for developing<br />
a larger icebreaker fleet.<br />
“Icebreakers are critical to our national security and America’s<br />
interests in the Arctic,” said Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.),<br />
author of the Polar Sea amendment, adding: “As commerce in the<br />
Arctic continues to increase, our nation’s need for icebreakers will<br />
continue to grow.”<br />
According to Cantwell’s office, refurbishing a large icebreaking<br />
vessel like the Polar Sea can take roughly five years and employ<br />
upwards of 300 workers. Building a new vessel can take eight to 10<br />
years, employing more than 1,000 workers. O<br />
For more information, contact Editor-In-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or<br />
search our online archives for related stories at www.cgf-kmi.com.<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 13
ON THE HORIZON<br />
Support for<br />
Carderock Division<br />
Corrosion Teams<br />
Science Applications International<br />
Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded<br />
a prime contract by the United States<br />
Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock<br />
Division to provide logistics and program<br />
management services for the Navy corrosion<br />
control assistance teams (CCAT). The<br />
single-award cost-plus-fixed-fee contract<br />
has a one-year base period of performance,<br />
two one-year options and a total contract<br />
value of approximately $23 million, if all<br />
options are exercised.<br />
Under the contract, SAIC will provide<br />
logistics and program management<br />
services including labor, technical assistance,<br />
training and process consumables<br />
for the Navy CCAT. Tasks will also<br />
include issuing government-owned tools<br />
and process consumables and conducting<br />
training.<br />
“We look forward to fulfilling the<br />
Navy’s need for technical expertise and<br />
introducing new technology onboard U.S.<br />
Navy and Coast Guard ships and boats,”<br />
said JT Grumski, SAIC senior vice president<br />
and business unit general manager.<br />
New National Security Cutter Contracted<br />
Huntington Ingalls Industries has been awarded a $487 million, fixed-price-incentive-fee<br />
contract to its Ingalls Shipbuilding division to build the sixth national security cutter, Munro<br />
(WMSL 755).<br />
“Our Coast Guard customer continues to be extremely pleased with the performance of the<br />
NSC, and this contract proves that,” said Jim French, Ingalls’ NSC program manager. “Our shipbuilders<br />
continue to execute well on this contract, and the design/build plan is at a mature stage.<br />
We currently have two more ships under construction and expect to start NSC 6 in October.”<br />
NSCs, the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, were designed to replace the 378-foot<br />
Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters, which entered service during the 1960s. Ingalls has<br />
delivered the first three. The fourth, Hamilton (WMSL 753), currently at 40 percent complete, is<br />
scheduled to launch this summer and will be christened in October.<br />
Keel-laying for the fifth NSC, James (WMSL 754), is set for May 17. The ship is currently 17<br />
percent complete and will launch in the spring of 2014. A long-lead material contract for Munro<br />
was awarded in 2012, and all associated equipment has been ordered.<br />
Ingalls builds,<br />
integrates and<br />
tests the NSC hull,<br />
mechanical and<br />
electrical systems,<br />
while Lockheed<br />
Martin provides the<br />
command, control,<br />
communications,<br />
computers, intelligence,<br />
surveillance<br />
and reconnaissance<br />
capabilities onboard<br />
the cutters. [NSC<br />
Stratton pictured]<br />
HC-130H Flies with Avionics Upgrade<br />
The Coast Guard recently completed a successful functional check flight<br />
of an HC-130H aircraft enhanced with an advanced avionics upgrade from<br />
Rockwell Collins under the Coast Guard’s Avionics 1 Upgrade program.<br />
The flight marked the completion of a significant cockpit and avionics<br />
upgrade managed by Rockwell Collins. The upgrade includes incorporation of<br />
14 | CGF 5.1<br />
four multi-function displays, a new digital autopilot, and a communications,<br />
navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) equipment suite<br />
for compliance with the latest airspace mandates. Rockwell Collins had previously<br />
upgraded the Coast Guard’s HC-130H fleet with its new MultiScan hazard<br />
detection weather radar.<br />
“Rockwell Collins and the Coast Guard have developed a strong relationship<br />
over the years and this most recent successful flight test adds another chapter<br />
to that story,” said Troy Brunk, vice president and general manager of airborne<br />
solutions for Rockwell Collins. “We’re continuing to add to our track record as<br />
the leading provider of cost-effective C-130 avionics upgrades, having completed<br />
more than 125 C-130 upgrades worldwide over the last decade.”<br />
The upgrade reduces pilot workload while improving situational awareness<br />
through enhanced CNS/ATM flight management capability, incorporating the<br />
MultiScan system for aircrew situational awareness, as well as implementing<br />
automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, required navigation performance<br />
area navigation functions with digital takeoff and landing data computations,<br />
and providing key search and rescue patterns. In particular, aircrews will appreciate<br />
the fully integrated Class III electronic flight bag with digital map overlays<br />
on the cockpit’s new 6-by-8-inch multi-function displays.<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
Compiled by <strong>KMI</strong> <strong>Media</strong> <strong>Group</strong> staff<br />
Contract Optioned<br />
for Additional<br />
HC-144A<br />
The Coast Guard has exercised a contract<br />
option to purchase the service’s 18th HC-144A<br />
Ocean Sentry maritime patrol aircraft from<br />
prime contractor EADS North America. The<br />
HC-144A is based on the Airbus Military CN235<br />
tactical airlifter. More than 230 CN235 aircraft<br />
are currently being operated by 29 countries.<br />
“Every HC-144A that enters the fleet expands<br />
the service’s ability to meet its increasingly<br />
demanding and diverse mission,” said Sean<br />
O’Keefe, EADS North America chairman and<br />
chief executive officer. “We’re proud to continue<br />
to provide such a vital capability.”<br />
The option is part of a contract awarded<br />
to EADS North America in July 2010 for three<br />
aircraft, plus options for up to six additional<br />
aircraft. Under this contract, EADS North America<br />
has already delivered three HC-144As—the 12th,<br />
13th and 14th for the service—all on budget<br />
and ahead of schedule. The 15th aircraft is due<br />
for delivery the first half of 2013, while the 16th<br />
and 17th will be delivered in early 2014. The 18th<br />
aircraft is planned for delivery by the end of 2014.<br />
The remaining options left on the contract,<br />
for up to two additional aircraft, can be exercised<br />
during 2014. Coast Guard plans call for<br />
acquiring a total of 36 HC-144As.<br />
With the ability to remain airborne for more<br />
than 10 hours, the Ocean Sentry is performing<br />
a wide range of missions for the Coast Guard,<br />
including maritime patrol, drug and migrant<br />
interdiction, disaster response, and search and<br />
rescue. The HC-144A achieved initial operational<br />
capability with the Coast Guard in 2008,<br />
and today is operational from Coast Guard air<br />
stations in Mobile, Ala., Cape Cod, Mass., and<br />
Miami.<br />
EADS North America delivers the HC-144A<br />
equipped with search radar, electro-optical and<br />
infrared cameras, an Automatic Identification<br />
System for data collection from vessels at sea, and<br />
a communications suite.<br />
The Ocean Sentry’s rear cargo ramp enables<br />
easy loading and unloading of the Coast Guard’s<br />
palletized mission system. The mission system<br />
can be removed for airlift, cargo and medevac<br />
missions, freeing up the large cabin for additional<br />
transport capacity. The rear ramp can be<br />
opened in flight to deploy search-and-rescue<br />
equipment.<br />
Coast Guard FMS Program<br />
VSE Corporation’s International <strong>Group</strong> has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity<br />
contract to provide program and technical support services for security assistance projects administered by<br />
the U.S. Coast Guard foreign military sales (FMS) Program. This single-award contract has a five-year period<br />
of performance (base year plus four one-year options) and a ceiling in excess of $99 million.<br />
Under this contract, VSE’s International <strong>Group</strong> will provide comprehensive program support, financial<br />
analysis, engineering, industrial, technical, logistics and transportation, warehouse and supply, and<br />
training support services for the purpose of acquiring, storing, reactivating, repairing, overhauling, refitting,<br />
modifying, transporting and transferring ex-USCG cutters, boats and related materials to foreign maritime<br />
services.<br />
“We are very pleased to have been selected by Headquarters U.S. Coast Guard to provide support for the<br />
maintenance, modification and transfer of USCG maritime assets around the world,” said International<br />
<strong>Group</strong> President Harry Flammang. “From 1999-2007, VSE worked side-by-side with the USCG to successfully<br />
transfer cutters and craft and provide follow-on support services. In that time, we successfully transferred 13<br />
USCG cutters and 68 craft.”<br />
Maurice “Mo” Gauthier, chief executive officer of VSE, commented, “The trust the Coast Guard has<br />
placed in our ability to perform this complex work reflects across all of VSE and demonstrates the spirit, focus<br />
and collaboration we practice every day with our customers. We are extremely proud to be selected for this<br />
important Coast Guard program and to further expand our presence in the FMS marketplace.”<br />
New Response Boat-Medium<br />
The crew of Coast Guard Station Ponce de Leon Inlet in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., received a brand-new<br />
high-tech boat with increased capabilities, enabling faster response times.<br />
The 45-foot Response Boat-Medium (RB-M) is the first of its type at the station and will replace the<br />
47-foot Motor Life Boat (MLB).<br />
With a maximum speed of nearly 49 mph, the new boat is capable of traveling roughly 20 mph faster<br />
than the MLB and can go into more shallow areas since its draft is 1 foot less than the older boat.<br />
“The new boat is a great platform for conducting our missions, and with the increase of speed, it will<br />
help in our response times and allow us to better serve the Daytona community,” said Master Chief Petty<br />
Officer Michael Jensen, officer in charge of Station Ponce de Leon Inlet.<br />
The crew will continue to use the MLB while getting acquainted with the new boat, a process that is<br />
expected to take about two months. After the crew is fully qualified, the MLB will be transferred to a Coast<br />
Guard station in the northeast.<br />
The new RB-M is one of the Coast Guard’s newest boats and is equipped with state-of-the-art marine<br />
technology that makes it a high performer. Its outfit includes an advanced electrical system, water jet<br />
propulsion and integrated electronics that allow greater control from the pilothouse. Its increased capability<br />
will enable the Coast Guard to respond to offshore missions more effectively.<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 15
<strong>Requirements</strong> <strong>Balancer</strong><br />
Q&A<br />
Meeting Current Missions While Preparing for the Future<br />
<strong>Adm</strong>iral <strong>Robert</strong> J. <strong>Papp</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>.<br />
Commandant<br />
U.S. Coast Guard<br />
<strong>Adm</strong>iral <strong>Robert</strong> J. <strong>Papp</strong> <strong>Jr</strong>. assumed the duties of the 24th<br />
commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on May 25, 2010. He leads<br />
the largest component of the Department of Homeland Security<br />
(DHS), comprised of 42,000 active duty, 8,200 Reserve, 8,000 civilian<br />
and 31,000 volunteer auxiliarists.<br />
As a flag officer, <strong>Papp</strong> served as commander, Coast Guard<br />
Atlantic Area, where he was operational commander for all U.S.<br />
Coast Guard missions within the eastern half of the world and<br />
provided support to the Department of Defense; as the chief of<br />
staff of the Coast Guard and commanding officer of Coast Guard<br />
Headquarters; as commander, Ninth Coast Guard District, with<br />
responsibilities for Coast Guard missions on the Great Lakes and<br />
Northern Border; and as director of reserve and training where he<br />
was responsible for managing and supporting 13,000 Coast Guard<br />
Ready Reservists and all Coast Guard training centers.<br />
<strong>Papp</strong> has served in six Coast Guard cutters, commanding four<br />
of them: Red Beech, Papaw, Forward, and the training barque<br />
Eagle. He also served as commander of a task unit during Operation<br />
Able Manner off the coast of Haiti in 1994, enforcing United<br />
Nations sanctions. Additionally, his task unit augmented U.S.<br />
naval forces during Operation Uphold Democracy.<br />
He is a 1975 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy.<br />
Additionally, he holds a Master of Arts in national security<br />
and strategic studies from the United States Naval War College<br />
and a Master of Science in management from Salve Regina College.<br />
<strong>Adm</strong>iral <strong>Papp</strong> is the 13th Gold Ancient Mariner of the Coast<br />
Guard. The Gold Ancient Mariner is an honorary position held by<br />
an officer with over 10 years of cumulative sea duty who has held<br />
the qualification as a cutterman longer than any other officer.<br />
Q: The Coast Guard has always done what’s been asked. Is the<br />
time right to have a conversation about the limits of Coast Guard<br />
elasticity in performing its missions with aging assets and with a<br />
budget that is, in most opinions, not keeping pace with requirements?<br />
16 | CGF 5.1<br />
A: I’ve been engaged in this conversation throughout my tenure<br />
as commandant—how do we balance current operations [increasing]<br />
against the need to build the future?<br />
One of the many challenges the Coast Guard faces today is an<br />
aging and obsolete fleet of cutters. As we continue in this difficult<br />
fiscal climate, there is a temptation to “hold what you have” at the<br />
expense of long-term readiness.<br />
As commandant, my duty is to decide how to strike the right<br />
balance between carrying out current operations and ensuring<br />
readiness with the need to invest in our future capabilities to<br />
meet the demands of the future. I also have a responsibility to<br />
advise the Secretary of Homeland Security and Congress, who are<br />
part of that decision-making process.<br />
From an operational perspective, the Coast Guard’s most<br />
pressing need is to invest in recapitalization of the offshore<br />
cutter fleet. Given the condition of our fleet—many older than<br />
45 years—we must continue to recapitalize cutters, boats and<br />
aircraft.<br />
Q: Moving forward, are you satisfied with the acquisition process<br />
you have in place and the ability of the Coast Guard to<br />
manage the progress, minimize the risks during development<br />
and keep programs within budget parameters?<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
Recently returning from drydock repairs, the Polar Star continues to power through the ice while awaiting a replacement program to bring a new era of icebreaking to the Coast Guard. [Photo courtesy of<br />
U.S. Coast Guard/by PA3 Andy Devilbiss]<br />
A: Absolutely. We are committed to sound stewardship of the<br />
taxpayers’ investment in the Coast Guard. Over the past decade<br />
we have built a highly experienced, talented corps of acquisition<br />
professionals who are successfully managing complex major<br />
acquisitions to recapitalize our cutters, aircraft, boats and shore<br />
infrastructure.<br />
Today, they are among the very best in the federal government<br />
for a service of our size, and we are increasingly serving as a model<br />
for other agencies. I could not be more proud of these dedicated<br />
professionals. Where appropriate, we have shifted to fixed-price<br />
contracts for most of our major acquisition projects due to the<br />
maturation of our acquisition processes and to better allocate programmatic<br />
risk between the government and contractor.<br />
We are also concentrating on acquiring state-of-the-market,<br />
proven designs and technologies and leveraging work with industry,<br />
the Navy and other government agencies to seek commonality<br />
and interoperability where it makes best sense. The Coast Guard is<br />
well aware of the challenges associated with carrying out a comprehensive<br />
recapitalization program in the current and projected<br />
fiscal environment. However, the need to recapitalize is more<br />
urgent than ever, and I am confident we have the right priorities<br />
going forward.<br />
Q: Hurricane Sandy was a devastating storm on land. Tell me<br />
about the damage to the aids to navigation systems and your<br />
recovery efforts.<br />
A: Coast Guardsmen did a superb job responding to a storm of<br />
historic proportions, especially considering that many were victims<br />
of the storm themselves. Sandy impacted hundreds of buoys<br />
and lighthouses along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts,<br />
including the complete destruction of the Old Orchard Shoal<br />
Lighthouse near Staten Island, and rendering the Coast Guard’s<br />
aids to navigation base in Bayonne, N.J., nearly inoperable.<br />
Our first priority after the storm—after conducting search<br />
and rescue—was to restore the aids to navigation system as part<br />
of a comprehensive plan for recovery of the maritime transportation<br />
system. Because most commerce comes by sea and waterway,<br />
re-opening ports and waterways to maritime traffic and ensuring<br />
safe navigation was essential to restore delivery of fuel and other<br />
commodities. Despite these and many other post-storm hardships,<br />
aids to navigation teams and buoy tenders from as far away as<br />
Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico joined those in New York<br />
and New England to ensure all critical aids to navigation in the<br />
Ports of New York/New Jersey were watching properly just 48 hours<br />
after the storm’s passing. Aids to navigation teams across the East<br />
Coast contributed protective gear, hardware and small boats to the<br />
massive recovery effort.<br />
Meanwhile, we worked closely with the National Oceanographic<br />
and Atmospheric <strong>Adm</strong>inistration and others to survey the affected<br />
waterways, identify and remove hazards to navigation, and restore<br />
the waterways to full commercial operation.<br />
Q: Turning back to Sandy for just a minute. How would you characterize<br />
the ability of the Coast Guard to communicate with law<br />
enforcement, firefighters and other responders during the crisis?<br />
Did all of the systems work the way they were supposed to?<br />
A: We suffered a diminished communications capacity due to<br />
infrastructure damage. That, combined with persistent power outages,<br />
made coordination of our wide-ranging efforts difficult. To<br />
minimize the impact we deployed Coast Guard Cutter Spencer to<br />
New York Harbor to act as a communications hub and relocated<br />
some of our units.<br />
For example, after significant damage to their facilities, Coast<br />
Guard Station New York relocated their watch and some assets and<br />
personnel to the Fire Department of New York’s Marine 9 station. My<br />
sincere appreciation goes out to FDNY for being such great shipmates.<br />
Q: Let’s talk ice. Coast Guard Cutter Healy was a good news story<br />
as it led the way through the ice for a tanker to deliver muchneeded<br />
oil to Nome, Alaska. Generally speaking, however, the<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 17
Protecting the shores and inland waterways from national security threats, the Coast Guard also maintains recreational safety on those same waters. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard/by Petty Officer<br />
3rd Class Matthew S. Masaschi]<br />
icebreaking news for the Coast Guard is not so rosy. Tell me what<br />
the short-term plan and costs are to enhance your icebreaking<br />
capability and what the long-term strategy is?<br />
A: While the story might not be rosy, there’s reason for optimism.<br />
I am confident about our current icebreaking capabilities and the<br />
future plans to ensure adequate capabilities for U.S. icebreaking<br />
needs.<br />
In December, the cutter Polar Star completed a multi-year<br />
rehabilitation at Vigor Shipyard in Seattle, is undergoing sea trials,<br />
and will return to active service this year as the nation’s heavy<br />
icebreaker. Polar Star will remain in service for the next seven to<br />
10 years, along with Healy, as we continue work to build the next<br />
generation of heavy icebreaker for the nation. Additionally, the<br />
president’s FY13 budget calls for funding to begin the design of a<br />
new polar icebreaker.<br />
Q: Several months ago the Coast Guard conducted Arctic Shield<br />
2012. What were the major takeaways and lessons learned from<br />
the event?<br />
A: For the past several summers, the Coast Guard has forwarddeployed<br />
resources to Barrow, Alaska, and other sites in the Arctic<br />
during periods of increased human activity to ensure maritime<br />
safety, security and stewardship in the emerging maritime frontier<br />
of the Arctic Ocean.<br />
We continue to see increasing commerce, eco-tourism and oil<br />
exploration activity, which bring attendant risks and demand for<br />
Coast Guard operations. Due to the oil exploration activity in 2012<br />
in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, we expanded our efforts with<br />
Operation Arctic Shield 2012.<br />
This marked the first time the Coast Guard has sustained<br />
a multi-mission presence on the North Slope throughout the<br />
Arctic maritime season, from July to November. The operation<br />
helped to provide insights into four areas of interest as follows:<br />
required mission activities for the Coast Guard in the northern<br />
18 | CGF 5.1<br />
Arctic region; capabilities [personnel, equipment and facilities]<br />
necessary to plan, execute and support operations there; available<br />
resources to mitigate mission and resource gaps; and preparation<br />
of our service and Coast Guard personnel to safely and effectively<br />
operate there.<br />
Arctic Shield 2012 successfully overcame the inherent challenges<br />
of the lack of physical and communications infrastructure,<br />
long-range logistics chains and a severe operating environment<br />
for personnel. Arctic Shield 2012 validated our operational proof<br />
of concept: the use of the national security cutters as a mobile<br />
command and control platform, essentially a floating Coast Guard<br />
Sector, operation of seasonal forward operating locations for air<br />
facilities, and deployable communications. We also reinforced the<br />
importance of partnerships with tribal and state governments,<br />
learning from the native peoples who have lived and worked in<br />
this remote region for centuries. Lessons learned and the experience<br />
gained during Arctic Shield 2012 will be applied to refine and<br />
improve Coast Guard Arctic operations and presence for next year<br />
and our long-term operations in the region.<br />
Q: Does the requirement to be prepared for oil spills necessitate<br />
a working relationship between the Coast Guard, the major oil<br />
drillers, cleanup specialists and environmentalists?<br />
A: The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for directing pollution<br />
response in the Coastal Zone. Effective execution of that<br />
mission requires Coast Guard federal on-scene coordinators to<br />
continuously and proactively engage all stakeholders, including<br />
federal, state, local and tribal governments, the oil industry,<br />
cleanup specialists and environmentalists at the port level. This<br />
is a continuous preparedness process that includes planning,<br />
exercise, response and evaluation to ensure readiness nationwide.<br />
During an incident, the Coast Guard leads a unified response.<br />
Our role is to ensure all involved are working together toward a<br />
common objective, and to maintain close oversight of the responsible<br />
party to ensure that the interests of the American people<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
Maritime safety is among the Coast Guard’s many top priority missions. Aids to navigation are critically important to safety, commerce and national security. The work is painstaking but absolutely<br />
necessary. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard]<br />
come first. This is a proven process for oil spill preparedness and<br />
response.<br />
Q: Any possibility the Coast Guard will consider operating an<br />
amphibious aircraft again?<br />
A: We don’t currently have a requirement for amphibious aircraft.<br />
The Coast Guard operated amphibious aircraft for many decades,<br />
up until we decommissioned our last Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican<br />
about 20 years ago.<br />
While amphibious airplanes and helicopters were effective, our<br />
other programs developed to the point where there was no need to<br />
put the entire aircraft on the water for search and rescue. Deploying<br />
from our helicopters, our rescue swimmers—aviation survival<br />
technicians—are able to rescue mariners in distress more rapidly<br />
and in much rougher conditions.<br />
In addition, our skills in dropping search and rescue equipment,<br />
such as dewatering pumps, to mariners is much more<br />
advanced than it used to be.<br />
Q: When government is looking for novel ways to be more efficient<br />
and drive operating costs lower, could you ever foresee a<br />
scenario by which the Coast Guard would take over maintenance<br />
of NOAA aircraft to reduce the maintenance personnel and supply<br />
chain for their fleet of about 13 aircraft?<br />
A: We have done some depot-level maintenance for other departments<br />
and agencies with similar airframes to create efficiencies<br />
through cooperation, but there are currently no plans for the<br />
Coast Guard to take over maintenance of NOAA aircraft. Coast<br />
Guard maintenance is world class, so it’s understandable our<br />
services may be in demand from others. We do a fantastic job of<br />
professionally and efficiently maintaining our assets to ensure<br />
peak readiness and affordably extend asset lifecycles.<br />
The Coast Guard continues to work very closely with NOAA<br />
in other ways to more efficiently serve the public. In January, we<br />
invited NOAA officer candidates to the Coast Guard Academy to<br />
train alongside Coast Guard officer candidates. Instilling the history<br />
of our close partnership in our future leaders is a vision both<br />
services share.<br />
Q: On average, how is the Coast Guard doing on hitting its<br />
recruitment and retention numbers? Are the ages spread out in<br />
such a way that you will avoid a “graying” of the force and lose<br />
too many skills at any one given period due to a large number<br />
hitting retirement age at the same time?<br />
A: The Coast Guard is on track to recruit approximately 1,500<br />
people in 2013, which is a low number compared to prior years.<br />
We are experiencing record-high retention rates within our military<br />
workforce due to a number of external factors, and the Coast<br />
Guard is looking forward to determine the best way to prevent a<br />
stagnation in the workforce.<br />
Recruiting is perpetually bringing in new personnel as others<br />
leave. This constant flow reduces the potential for a “graying” of<br />
the workforce. The Coast Guard is actively working toward further<br />
development and employment of additional workforce-shaping<br />
tools to properly and effectively manage the enlisted workforce.<br />
Q: Any final thoughts on the men, women and mission of the<br />
Coast Guard of 2013?<br />
A: We carry out our missions in a very challenging and, at times,<br />
unforgiving environment. Our continued success is only possible<br />
because of the great men and women who continue to step forward<br />
to serve—and we have the best!<br />
As Coast Guardsmen, we are committed every day to protecting<br />
those on the sea, protecting America from threats delivered by<br />
sea, and protecting the sea itself. Despite the challenges we face,<br />
I remain confident and optimistic about the future because of the<br />
selfless service of our men and women, and the dedicated support<br />
of families. Semper Paratus! O<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 19
Precaution<br />
is Key<br />
Maintenance and certification of critical parts are key to the safety of life at sea.<br />
By Michael Gabriel<br />
Off-load marine hooks are found on<br />
workboats and military vessels around the<br />
world and are used to launch fast rescue<br />
craft and other similar small manned boats<br />
from the deck of a ship using a davit or<br />
other similar launch and recovery system<br />
(LARS). These hooks offer operators the<br />
split-second release control often needed<br />
at sea—including a self-locking feature,<br />
which prevents release while under full<br />
load.<br />
When all applicable equipment is<br />
in perfect working order, the nature of<br />
launching a manned small vessel from a<br />
larger vessel while at sea is a dangerous<br />
task in and of itself, and has resulted in<br />
many injuries and fatalities throughout<br />
maritime history. If this critical piece of<br />
load-bearing equipment is not kept in perfect<br />
working order, it serves to significantly<br />
increase the chances of an accident and<br />
potential injuries or fatalities during the<br />
launch and recovery process.<br />
In January of 2011, Delta T Systems<br />
Inc. officially took on the role of the United<br />
States agent for Cranston Eagle (DBA<br />
Eagle Products Ky), the Finland-based<br />
manufacturer of one of the prominent<br />
brands of marine off-load hooks. These<br />
hooks are used by the United States and<br />
Canadian navies and coast guards as well<br />
as by many research vessels and offshore<br />
platforms around the world.<br />
As the director of the program for the<br />
testing and certification of Eagle Products’<br />
hooks, I have noticed an alarming trend<br />
develop in the many hooks that I have<br />
processed through our facility during my<br />
tenure. The first and most disturbing trend<br />
is the apparent lack of regard for the fiveyear<br />
testing and recertification cycle—as<br />
mandated by the International Maritime<br />
Organization. More than half of the hooks<br />
that I have seen come through our facility<br />
for testing and recertification are grossly<br />
out of date.<br />
Although an out-of-date hook may look<br />
fine on the outside, there may be issues<br />
that cannot be seen but that may affect the<br />
potential performance of this key piece of<br />
critical load path safety equipment. Structural<br />
issues such as microscopic cracking<br />
or hidden wear on locking pins or other<br />
critical parts, metallurgical issues such as<br />
hydrogen embrittlement, as well as relentless<br />
corrosion issues, each contribute to<br />
hidden weakening of the hook. Particularly<br />
troublesome are crevice corrosion and pitting<br />
corrosion, which occur predominantly<br />
on portions of the mounting bolts that are<br />
hidden from view while the hook is in use<br />
and create the potential for catastrophic<br />
failure of the hook.<br />
The second most alarming trend that<br />
I have noted is improper hook maintenance.<br />
Top on the list is the use of grease<br />
to lubricate the working parts of the hook<br />
such as the locking pin mechanism, the<br />
positive lock, the latch and the rotating<br />
hook part. Grease should never be used on<br />
these hooks because of its tendency to collect<br />
salt and particulate matter and become<br />
dry and caked up within the workings of<br />
the hook. Many of the hooks that I have<br />
seen are gummed up with old grease to the<br />
point where they are only marginally functional.<br />
It is imperative that the locking pin<br />
is able to move freely within its confines<br />
in order for the hook to maintain the load<br />
that it was designed to hold.<br />
Moving down the list of maintenance<br />
items, the lock pin spring and the latch<br />
spring need to be changed on all Cranston<br />
Eagle hooks every 30 months as<br />
per the manufacturer’s requirements. It<br />
is common for me to find tired, worn<br />
and deformed springs that have not been<br />
changed since the hook was originally<br />
manufactured. A faulty or tired lock pin<br />
spring can jeopardize the hook’s ability to<br />
maintain the load that it was designed to<br />
support if it does not fully push the locking<br />
pin into place.<br />
Other maintenance issues include frozen<br />
or stiffly moving hook parts, substituted<br />
sub-par non-OEM parts, highly<br />
frayed and improperly tensioned release<br />
cables, as well as structural damage to<br />
the hook body itself. Although my personal<br />
experience is limited to the Cranston<br />
Eagle line of marine off-load hooks, it is<br />
my understanding that this is an industry<br />
trend which spans most of the marine<br />
off-load hooks that are in use on today’s<br />
vessels.<br />
The solution is quite simply to keep<br />
these hooks within certification and to follow<br />
the correct maintenance procedures as<br />
called out by the hook’s manufacturer and<br />
the IMO. The first order of business for all<br />
vessels that utilize these hooks should be<br />
to perform an initial inspection of all hooks<br />
within a fleet in order to ensure that they<br />
are within their five-year certification date.<br />
Once a fleet’s hooks are made safe, then<br />
every effort should be made to keep them<br />
on the list of critical maintenance items for<br />
each vessel.<br />
A call to action would be for the<br />
responsible parties for all vessels that utilize<br />
off-load hooks to inspect their hooks<br />
immediately to make sure that they are<br />
safe for use and within their five year certification<br />
window. The stakes are too high to<br />
overlook this critical piece of load-bearing<br />
hardware. O<br />
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com<br />
or search our online archives for related stories<br />
at www.cgf-kmi.com.<br />
20 | CGF 5.1<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
Maritime Domain Awareness<br />
Maritime domain awareness requires end-to-end vigilance.<br />
By Ned Lundquist<br />
The U.S. Coast Guard is charged with<br />
protecting the homeland and ensuring the<br />
security of our harbors, ports and waterways.<br />
But homeland defense does not begin at the<br />
border. It begins far from home. Ensuring<br />
secure port operations and vessel movements<br />
at home begins not at the harbor entrance,<br />
but at distant overseas ports of embarkation,<br />
and includes a sophisticated network of systems<br />
to track vessel movements at all times,<br />
watchful for aberrant behavior abroad that<br />
may become a problem in our own waters.<br />
According to Commandant of the Coast<br />
Guard <strong>Adm</strong>iral <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Papp</strong>, “The U.S. maritime<br />
transportation system is comprised of<br />
361 ports and thousands of miles of maritime<br />
thoroughfares that support 95 percent of<br />
U.S. foreign trade. Most of that trade is transported<br />
on over 7,500 vessels that make more<br />
than 60,000 visits to U.S. ports annually.”<br />
“The entrances to our ports are wherever<br />
the market begins. We have people stationed<br />
around the world as part of that existential<br />
metaphor,” said commander, Atlantic Area/<br />
commander, Defense Force East, Vice <strong>Adm</strong>iral<br />
<strong>Robert</strong> Parker, USCG.<br />
He said that homeland security starts far<br />
from home. “People hear ‘Coast Guard’ and<br />
wonder why we’re not on the coast. We are<br />
much further forward than that.”<br />
The Maritime Transportation Security<br />
Act of 2002 mandates the USCG to assess<br />
anti-terrorism measures in foreign ports. The<br />
1974 International Convention for the Safety<br />
of Life at Sea has been amended to include<br />
new special measures to enhance maritime<br />
safety. This included the International Ship<br />
and Port Facilities Security (ISPS) Code, a<br />
framework for stakeholders to assess and<br />
manage risk regarding potential threats and<br />
the vulnerability of ships and port infrastructure.<br />
Today, the Coast Guard is conducting<br />
port security assessments at ports all around<br />
the world.<br />
To ensure a ship arriving at a U.S. port<br />
is safe and secure, it is important to know<br />
that the factory where the container was<br />
loaded, or the port where the ship departed,<br />
is certified as in accordance with the highest<br />
standards. The Coast Guard’s goal is to detect,<br />
deter and defeat threats as early and distant<br />
from U.S. interests as possible. That’s why<br />
the U.S. works closely with other nations to<br />
help deliver a mutually advantageous layered<br />
security framework of MDA.<br />
On one end of the spectrum is the shipment<br />
of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the<br />
Balhaf LNG terminal in Yemen to Boston,<br />
Mass. This is example of an end-to-end security<br />
protocol that ensures vessels and crew<br />
are inspected, reliable and have not been<br />
compromised in any way, and the ship is<br />
monitored for every nautical mile of the transit<br />
and escorted into port. This is not possible<br />
for every international shipment by sea that<br />
arrives in the U.S.<br />
So how can we ensure the safety and<br />
security of ship movements? Obviously there<br />
are many international partners involved.<br />
The ports of departure abroad must be in<br />
compliance with the International Maritime<br />
Organization’s ISPS Code. The Maritime<br />
Transportation Security Act of 2002 requires<br />
the Coast Guard to assess the anti-terrorism<br />
measures of foreign ports involved in U.S.<br />
trade, and the Coast Guard’s International<br />
Port Security Program conducts periodic<br />
visits to ports in about 150 countries to assess<br />
compliance and verify that the ports have<br />
effective anti-terrorism measures in place.<br />
Parker said the three U.S. sea services<br />
have an important partnership, and he lauded<br />
the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps men<br />
and women who work together every day<br />
around the world. Parker also stressed the<br />
importance of relationships. Coast Guard law<br />
enforcement detachments can embark on a<br />
variety of vessels to exercise their authority<br />
within U.S. jurisdiction, and work with other<br />
coast guards to help them do their jobs.<br />
“Canada is our closest partner. We don’t refer<br />
to our ‘northern border,’ we call it our ‘shared<br />
border,’” Parker said.<br />
Parker said the combatant commanders<br />
around the world want Coast Guard forces.<br />
“There is always a significant demand signal<br />
for what we do. It’s not just about capability<br />
and capacity; it’s about authorities and jurisdiction.”<br />
Rear <strong>Adm</strong>iral Paul Zukunft, assistant<br />
commandant for Marine Safety, Security, and<br />
Stewardship, agreed with Parker about the<br />
Coast Guard’s forward posture for maritime<br />
security. “Transnational crime is agnostic to<br />
boarders,” he said. “We have trade with 160<br />
nations around the globe. Layered maritime<br />
security starts in foreign ports. Maritime<br />
security doesn’t start when a ship comes<br />
under the Golden Gate Bridge.”<br />
Knowing the local traffic conditions is<br />
important. The Coast Guard uses the Vessel<br />
Traffic Service (VTS) in a number of U.S.<br />
ports, such as the busy Sabine-Neches Waterway<br />
that runs between Louisiana and Texas<br />
and serves the ports of Port Arthur, Beaumont,<br />
and Orange, Texas. VTS informs the<br />
Coast Guard and all the stakeholders on the<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 21
waterway where traffic is and what it’s doing,<br />
enhancing both safety and security.<br />
Harbor Protection<br />
Another recent example of Centre for<br />
Maritime Research and Experimentation’s<br />
[CMRE] progress in the field of maritime<br />
security was the Harbor Protection Table-<br />
Top Exercise (HPT2E) hosted at the Centre’s<br />
OpenSea Tactical Theatre Simulator,<br />
and sponsored by NATO’s Emerging Security<br />
Challenges Division Defense Against Terrorism<br />
program.<br />
According to CMRE scientist Ron Kessel,<br />
“HPT2E focused on the protection of military<br />
forces, seaborne shipments, and critical civilian<br />
infrastructure in ports and harbors during<br />
times of high threat alert.”<br />
HPT2E was an attacker versus defender<br />
“gaming event” designed to help NATO navies<br />
and coast guards better prepare for potential<br />
threats. It used gaming technology to<br />
improve advanced concepts of use for emerging<br />
non-lethal response technologies against<br />
non-cooperative small boats and underwater<br />
intruders. Participants used computer models<br />
of emerging non-lethal technologies in<br />
realistic scenarios for determining if unauthorized<br />
persons on the waterside in ports<br />
(attackers or misguided innocent persons)<br />
had hostile intent, justifying the escalation<br />
of force when it is required (attackers only).<br />
“Much of security is about risk reduction.<br />
In this case, using non-lethal response<br />
measures to reduce the risk to innocent<br />
persons by winning their speedy compliance<br />
in a security zone,” Kessel said, “in this way<br />
making a clear distinction between persons<br />
with benign or hostile intent, and justifying<br />
the use of force against non-compliant people<br />
when it is required.”<br />
“HPT2E is a significant advance in tactical<br />
gaming and it is the first time that serious<br />
gaming is being used in the ‘Defense against<br />
Terrorism’ program,” Kessel said. “People get<br />
interested and focused on the scenario and<br />
the mission, learning about the emerging<br />
technologies, and controlling their platforms<br />
and sensors and effectors for force protection.<br />
We’ve demonstrated the role that serious<br />
gaming can play in the capability-development<br />
process.”<br />
Vessel Tracking Service<br />
“We monitor, inform, recommend and<br />
direct the traffic on the water, and we contribute<br />
to maritime domain awareness and<br />
maritime security compliance,” said Mike<br />
Measells, the Coast Guard’s civilian director<br />
of VTS on the waterway. “VTS’s task is<br />
to promote marine safety and security on<br />
the waterway and to minimize and mitigate<br />
waterway disruptions—whether the disruptions<br />
occur from navigation safety incidents<br />
or other threats.”<br />
VTS uses AIS data and other information<br />
to identify and track all vessels coming<br />
and going in the port and adjoining water<br />
way. AIS transponders—required on all ships<br />
above 300 tons—transmit position, speed and<br />
course, vessel’s name, dimensions and voyage<br />
details. VTS also uses surveillance radars and<br />
cameras to provide a complete picture.<br />
VTS accomplishes the Coast Guard’s<br />
safety mission by communicating and<br />
coordinating with vessels, providing useful<br />
navigation information, advising of channel<br />
obstructions, de-conflicting traffic, and promoting<br />
good order and predictability.<br />
Sharing Data<br />
Achieving MDA requires sharing data in<br />
a transparent manner between stakeholders.<br />
The automated information system, or AIS, is<br />
a maritime version of the identification friend<br />
or foe systems used to track aircraft movements.<br />
AIS is now required on all vessels<br />
300 tons and greater. The AIS transponder<br />
provides information about the ship, course,<br />
speed and destination. The transponder can<br />
be queried by other ships, satellites or landbased<br />
transceivers.<br />
While the NATO center for CMRE in<br />
La Spezia, Italy, is known for its research<br />
in undersea warfare, it is now applying its<br />
expertise to address challenges with a broader<br />
maritime charter.<br />
Karna Bryan, who leads the Maritime<br />
Situational Awareness Project at CMRE, said<br />
situational awareness involves using all available<br />
data sources and tools to gain a greater<br />
understanding of the maritime environment.<br />
“Enhanced situational awareness uses a number<br />
of different application areas at the same<br />
time, including the use of appropriate sensors;<br />
gathering and sharing data; and finding<br />
ways for people to collaborate,” said Bryan.<br />
“Our focus is to develop and take full<br />
advantage of science and technology and our<br />
expertise in this domain, then demonstrate<br />
how new concepts and equipment performs<br />
in the operational maritime environment,”<br />
said CMRE Director Dr. Dirk Tielbuerger.<br />
Bryan’s career at CMRE has focused on<br />
developing warfare tactical decision aids. Her<br />
team is currently looking at multi-sensor<br />
data fusion from a number of different maritime<br />
data sources. “Although AIS data provides<br />
only a subset of cooperatively reporting<br />
maritime traffic and thus needs to be verified<br />
with other sources, it is nonetheless a rich<br />
source of information about maritime traffic,”<br />
Bryan said. “Satellite-based AIS is really<br />
changing things because it gives us a whole<br />
new source of unclassified and more easily<br />
sharable data. We’ve been working with the<br />
U.S. Coast Guard on a satellite-based AIS<br />
feeds from multiple satellite providers. We’re<br />
using ‘Bayesian’ techniques based on the data<br />
from multiple sensors, so multiple satellites<br />
can be collectively analyzed to better understand<br />
the performance of each of the satellites<br />
individually. We’re also looking at automated<br />
data-driven techniques to extract maritime<br />
routes which help people to identify anomalous<br />
shipping activity working towards the<br />
goal of finding the needle in the haystack.”<br />
According to Bryan, the CMRE approach<br />
utilizes AIS data, historical or real-time, and<br />
is aimed at incrementally learning motion<br />
patterns without any specific a priori contextual<br />
description. The maritime traffic representation<br />
underpins low likelihood behavior<br />
detection and supports enhanced maritime<br />
situational awareness by providing a characterization<br />
of vessel traffic. Bryan said maritime<br />
motion patterns can be “learned” using<br />
unsupervised algorithms and is suitable to<br />
historic or real time analysis.<br />
“We have a framework we’re developing<br />
called CoMSSoFT—which is Collaborative<br />
Multi-Sensor Source Fusion and Tracking<br />
Tool—which aims to provide common<br />
standards for data fusion within a networkenabled<br />
capability. The idea is to implement<br />
‘fusion on demand,’ providing the ability to<br />
combine multiple data sources in an ad-hoc<br />
manner from multiple data providers.<br />
But data sharing with sophisticated networks<br />
can be vulnerable. Dr. Brett A. Sovereign,<br />
a professor at the Coast Guard Academy,<br />
an expert on cybersecurity and information<br />
assurance. “Sharing technical information is<br />
important, but we must ensure the network<br />
will not be compromised.” O<br />
Captain Edward Lundquist, U.S. Navy<br />
(Ret.), is a science writer for MCR Federal<br />
LLC in Arlington, Va.<br />
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com<br />
or search our online archives for related stories<br />
at www.cgf-kmi.com.<br />
22 | CGF 5.1<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
Coast Guard<br />
C4ISR<br />
Technologies<br />
The technological eyes and ears of the Coast Guard.<br />
By Jeff Goldman, CGF Correspondent<br />
Ongoing improvements in technology<br />
are making it much easier than it used to<br />
be for the U.S. Coast Guard to locate smaller<br />
targets in open water. From enhanced imaging<br />
and radar technologies to unmanned<br />
aircraft and aerostats, several new solutions<br />
are available to assist in tracking everything<br />
from drug runners to boats in distress.<br />
Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey B. Dorwart,<br />
the U.S. Coast Guard’s avionics, sensors<br />
and C4ISR program manager, said the<br />
Coast Guard, which leverages radar, the AIS<br />
(automatic identification system) and EO/<br />
IR (electro-optical/infrared) turrets to detect<br />
such targets, faces unique challenges both in<br />
detecting small targets and in maintaining<br />
track.<br />
Environmental conditions,<br />
Dorwart noted, can<br />
affect the performance of<br />
both radar and EO/IR. “The<br />
performance of the IR portion<br />
is directly related to the temperature<br />
differential between<br />
the target and the water column<br />
the target is in,” he said.<br />
“This means there is a lot of<br />
variation between detection<br />
performance day to day and in<br />
different geographies.”<br />
Most importantly, Dorwart said, while<br />
the image quality of the Coast Guard’s current<br />
EO/IR turrets is acceptable, it isn’t<br />
close to state of the market due to budget<br />
constraints. “This negatively impacts our<br />
ability to identify items in the image that<br />
may be useful knowledge to our boarding<br />
teams such as weapons or sensors and antennas,”<br />
he said. “It also impedes our ability to<br />
positively identify small targets due to inadequate<br />
resolution.”<br />
Josh Howlett<br />
In testimony before the U.S. Congress last<br />
May, Coast Guard then-Deputy Commandant<br />
for Mission Support Vice <strong>Adm</strong>iral John Currier<br />
(now vice commandant) explained, “The Coast<br />
Guard’s ability to save lives, interdict drug<br />
and alien smugglers, and protect our ports,<br />
waterways and natural resources depends on<br />
providing our highly trained people with a<br />
modern, reliable fleet of vessels and aircraft,<br />
equipped with effective command, control and<br />
communications systems.”<br />
360-Degree Infrared Imaging<br />
One company that’s offering a solution<br />
specifically designed to meet the challenges<br />
of tracking in open water is HGH Infrared<br />
Systems, which manufactures<br />
the 360-degree Spynel-C infrared<br />
imaging system. “Operationally,<br />
we like to describe<br />
ourselves most comparably to<br />
what radar is trying to do by<br />
continuously rotating around<br />
and looking for threats in the<br />
field of view … and along with<br />
that comes the thermal imaging<br />
component,” said HGH<br />
sales manager Joshua Howlett.<br />
“We produce a very highresolution<br />
image of 12 megapixels … and<br />
then we can zoom into sectors of that image<br />
individually and simultaneously in as many<br />
directions as we want, essentially creating a<br />
solution that mimics multiple cameras—as<br />
many cameras as you could imagine—looking<br />
in every direction at once,” Howlett explained.<br />
The system, Howlett said, is able to<br />
detect a human at 3 kilometers on land or<br />
1 kilometer in water. “We can detect a small<br />
waterborne threat—a RIB or a wooden boat,<br />
something radar doesn’t normally have much<br />
success picking up—at 5 to 6 kilometers,” he<br />
said. “And then a larger ship class—a commercial<br />
ship, naval frigate—we can detect that<br />
size threat at 12 kilometers.”<br />
And Howlett said the system’s benefits in<br />
a maritime environment are clear. “Our most<br />
valuable position within the maritime world,<br />
especially within Coast Guard or Navy operations,<br />
is for anti-piracy missions—picking up<br />
things that radar has a hard time doing, and<br />
de-cluttering an environment,” he said. “In an<br />
ocean, with waves and water moving around<br />
in the environment, sometimes radar has a<br />
hard time defeating that and figuring out what<br />
is actually a real target, especially the small<br />
threats in a pirate-type mission, and we’re<br />
more effective there.”<br />
The company soon plans to release its<br />
Spynel-S, Howlett said, which will offer a<br />
significant increase in performance levels.<br />
“Instead of a 12-megapixel image, we’ll be<br />
creating a 30-plus megapixel image,” he said.<br />
“Our detection ranges are going to close to<br />
double, so more in the 5- to 6-kilometer range<br />
for a human on land, 10 kilometers for a small,<br />
asymmetrical threat, and then 15, 20, 25 kilometers<br />
for a larger vessel.”<br />
The Right Radar Technology<br />
Steve Marlow, vice president for surveillance<br />
radar campaigns at Selex ES, said the<br />
right radar technology can also be extremely<br />
effective in a marine environment. While<br />
traditional mechanically scanned (M-Scan)<br />
radar often has trouble with high sea states,<br />
Selex’s electronically scanned (E-Scan) radar<br />
can solve that problem by revisiting the same<br />
cell many times during a single dwell.<br />
“The extremely fast revisit rate synthesized<br />
by the E-Scan radar enables advanced ‘subclutter’<br />
detection processing, meaning that the<br />
target return can be more easily discriminated<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 23
from the spiky sea clutter returns,” Marlow<br />
said. “The result is a far superior small target<br />
detection capability against a sea clutter<br />
background—the benefit is equivalent to a<br />
tenfold increase in sensitivity compared with<br />
a traditional M-Scan radar—and it results in<br />
a very clean display with strong returns from<br />
even the smallest of targets.”<br />
Marlow said Selex’s E-Scan radars are<br />
also much more reliable than older M-Scan<br />
radars. “Whereas traditional M-Scan radars<br />
have achieved mean time between failures<br />
[MTBF] measured in the 100 to 200 hours<br />
range, E-Scan radars, with their radically different<br />
federated, low-power, solid-state transmitters<br />
mounted at the antenna face, deliver<br />
MTBFs around the 2,000 hour mark,” he said.<br />
“[In addition to] aligning much more closely<br />
with the Coast Guard’s life-saving ethos, this<br />
also has a very positive effect<br />
on the support costs of the<br />
system, and therefore significantly<br />
reduces the through<br />
life cost to the taxpayer.”<br />
Selex ES offers a range<br />
of three E-Scan surveillance<br />
radars: the Seaspray 5000E,<br />
7000E and 7500E. The three<br />
systems share the same<br />
modular E-Scan technology<br />
and the same processing<br />
unit, with different-sized<br />
arrays offering a variety of performance levels.<br />
“These systems have been very widely<br />
adopted, since their introduction in 2005, on<br />
fixed and rotary wing aircraft, unmanned air<br />
systems and aerostats—including the U.S.<br />
Coast Guard on their HC-130H fleet and the<br />
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency<br />
on their multi-role enforcement aircraft,”<br />
Marlow said.<br />
The U.S. Coast Guard’s deployment of<br />
the Seaspray 7500E on its HC-130H fleet<br />
has already saved several lives. As just one of<br />
many examples, Marlow recalls that in September<br />
2008, the Coast Guard successfully<br />
located three people on an overturned 15-foot<br />
boat in choppy waters 47 nautical miles<br />
northwest of Puerto Plata in the Dominican<br />
Republic. “Using the Selex ES radar system,<br />
the HC-130H aircrew located the capsized<br />
boat at 2:36 p.m. local time and vectored<br />
a Coast Guard HH65C Dolphin helicopter<br />
from Air Station Borinquen to the scene,”<br />
Marlow said. “The aircrew was also able to<br />
locate a Good Samaritan vessel, the cruise<br />
ship Carnival Destiny, in the area and identify<br />
it using the Automatic Identification System<br />
integrated with the Selex ES radar.”<br />
Steve Marlow<br />
The Big Picture Delivering<br />
Actionable Information<br />
Esri has been deeply involved with the<br />
USCG for over 10 years. “ArcGIS is the exclusive<br />
choice for GIS across the USCG,” said<br />
Mike Mastracci, Esri account manager, U.S.<br />
Navy and Coast Guard. “The USCG has successfully<br />
implemented an enterprise-level GIS<br />
using ArcGIS, known as the EGIS, that provides<br />
GIS data and geoprocessing services, as<br />
well as providing a portal into services published<br />
by other organizations such as NOAA<br />
and the Navy. The Coast Guard is also looking<br />
at integrating the EGIS into its other enterprise<br />
systems, to support functions such as<br />
asset and infrastructure management.”<br />
The ArcGIS platform is designed to provide<br />
an open architecture with a rich application<br />
programmer interface<br />
and complete set of software<br />
developer kits (SDKs), all of<br />
which are OGC compliant. An<br />
SDK is available for every level<br />
of the GIS enterprise, from<br />
servers to desktop applications<br />
to mobile devices. “This<br />
enabled the USCG to specify<br />
that any new map-based system<br />
or application being built<br />
must be developed using Arc-<br />
GIS,” said Mastracci. “Legacy<br />
C2 systems are being migrated to take advantage<br />
of the robust and embeddable GIS toolset<br />
available in ArcGIS, but there are significant<br />
challenges because many of these systems<br />
were not built to be OGC compliant or to<br />
share GIS data through industry<br />
standard interfaces.”<br />
The real value of any system<br />
is not only how much<br />
information it provides but<br />
how easily that information<br />
can be accessed and utilized by<br />
those at the very end at the tactical<br />
level, for example during<br />
a search and rescue (SAR) mission.<br />
Many SAR cases begin<br />
with a phone call about an<br />
overdue vessel or a mishap at<br />
sea, but many others along the coast of the<br />
U.S. begin with a broken or unclear mayday<br />
call from the vessel’s radio. These radio calls<br />
are intercepted and analyzed by the Rescue-21<br />
communications system, which uses ArcGIS<br />
for its geographic calculations to determine<br />
the position of the radio call. This last known<br />
position is then passed on to the Search and<br />
Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS),<br />
Scott Dann<br />
a comprehensive search and rescue (SAR)<br />
planning system built on ArcGIS which is<br />
used in the planning and execution of almost<br />
all SAR cases in and around the United States<br />
and the Caribbean. The SAR controller, using<br />
SAROPS, then develops a search area based<br />
upon the information, estimates resource<br />
availability and capability, promulgates the<br />
search plan and deploys the resources. While<br />
the assets are conducting a search, the SAR<br />
controller begins the process again by gathering<br />
additional information, developing a<br />
subsequent search, deploying resources and<br />
evaluating previous searches. This process<br />
continues until the victims are found or the<br />
search is reluctantly abandoned.<br />
“SAROPS provides a tool that is fast, simple,<br />
minimizes data entry and potential for<br />
calculation error, can access high-resolution<br />
GIS and environmental data, and can create<br />
optimal search action plans that maximize the<br />
probability of success,” explained Mastracci.<br />
“SAROPS is used to prosecute hundreds of<br />
SAR cases every year, and was also utilized<br />
in the response to the Deepwater Horizon<br />
explosion.”<br />
The Benefits of<br />
Unmanned Aircraft<br />
While the Coast Guard is currently using<br />
the Seaspray 7500E on its HC-130H manned<br />
aircraft, the system can also be deployed on<br />
unmanned aircraft—in May 2012, General<br />
Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI)<br />
offered a live flight demonstration of its Predator<br />
B unmanned aircraft system fitted with a<br />
Selex Seaspray 7500E surveillance<br />
radar.<br />
GA-ASI’s “Guardian” is the<br />
maritime variant of the Predator<br />
B, and GA-ASI director of<br />
strategic development Scott<br />
Dann said its cost-effectiveness<br />
is unmatched. “The manned<br />
operations, like the P-3 or<br />
the upcoming P-8 … are tremendously<br />
expensive aircraft,<br />
numbering up to hundreds of<br />
millions of dollars per copy,<br />
and they’re man-intensive,” Dann said. “We<br />
have a Guardian aircraft for roughly $10 million<br />
that’s unmanned and can fly out over the<br />
ocean and essentially do the same mission.”<br />
The fact that the Guardian aircraft is<br />
unmanned, Dann said, offers several key benefits.<br />
“Just due to the nature of the fact that<br />
we’re remotely piloted, we have data links<br />
that connect us to the aircraft—and you’re<br />
24 | CGF 5.1<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
automatically on the network, so you get distribution<br />
of data anywhere worldwide once it’s<br />
down from the aircraft,” he said. “You’ve got<br />
that connectivity built into the system, so you<br />
can process, exploit and disseminate information<br />
to multiple sites anywhere in the world.”<br />
A single Guardian, Dann said, can scan a<br />
wide area to locate a vessel, then fly to the target<br />
and assess it more closely as needed. “You<br />
have situational awareness of exactly what’s<br />
happening,” he said. “You can see people on<br />
board, you can read the name of the ship and<br />
the numbers on the ship, you can determine<br />
the status of what’s happening on the ship,<br />
and then you can stay on station long enough<br />
until they bring a manned aircraft or a boat<br />
out, which could take many, many hours. Currently,<br />
manned aircraft only have an endurance<br />
of up to about four to eight hours on<br />
station depending on the range, so a lot of<br />
times when they get on station with manned<br />
aircraft, they have to leave.”<br />
Identifying Targets at Night<br />
Dann said the Guardian can also beam<br />
live video to the team that’s actually doing<br />
the interdiction. “They’re actually able to see<br />
exactly what’s [happening] on the ship—are<br />
they gunning up, or are they leaving, or<br />
is everything normal—and that saves lives,”<br />
Dann said. “We’re also able to shine down<br />
laser illuminators if it’s nighttime… so if our<br />
interdiction agents are carrying night vision<br />
goggles, they see like it’s daytime, and the<br />
people that are being interdicted have no idea<br />
that they’re in a big spotlight.”<br />
One leading supplier of the night vision<br />
technology that’s crucial for those types of<br />
missions is ITT Exelis. “Our products are<br />
equipped with Generation 3 image intensifier<br />
tubes that provide the clearest, sharpest<br />
image, therefore making it easier for the<br />
user to identify specific targets in the night,”<br />
said David Smith, vice president and general<br />
manager of Exelis night vision business area.<br />
“It also improves clarity and resolution, and<br />
allows for a more seamless transition when<br />
switching from low-light to high-light areas.”<br />
The company also offers sensor fusion<br />
night vision technology, a combination of<br />
image intensification and thermal infrared<br />
technology in a single compact goggle. “Our<br />
enhanced night vision goggle, or ENVG, has<br />
allowed operators to improve their situational<br />
awareness by allowing them to identify heat<br />
signatures of objects in the distance and then<br />
identify targets with the image intensification,”<br />
Smith said. “The combination of these<br />
two night-vision technologies provides users<br />
with greater situational awareness during a<br />
challenging mission environment.”<br />
And in October 2011, Smith said, Exelis<br />
added a new line of products called i-Aware.<br />
“Our i-Aware technology is a game-changing<br />
technology for militaries and law enforcement<br />
agencies that operate at night,” he said.<br />
“I-Aware goggles maximize the user’s situational<br />
awareness by importing and exporting<br />
real-time video, photos, tactical intelligence<br />
from a command center, UAV or ally in the<br />
field. I-Aware NVGs are the ultimate solution<br />
for force protection, mission execution and<br />
information sharing across the battlefield.”<br />
Minimizing Clutter,<br />
Improving Contrast<br />
Paul Jennison, vice president of sales and<br />
new business development at L-3 Wescam,<br />
said the key challenges in tracking smaller targets<br />
in open water come down to the clutter<br />
and poor contrast caused by<br />
the surface of the water—but<br />
he said those challenges can<br />
actually be overcome in a relatively<br />
straightforward manner.<br />
“Target contrast is significantly<br />
improved by switching<br />
to the thermal sensor<br />
as watercraft are generally<br />
warmer than the surrounding<br />
water,” Jennison said. “Image<br />
contrast is helped by image<br />
processing algorithms that<br />
work to sharpen the image<br />
and enhance contrast. Finally,<br />
image blending, which is the<br />
overlay of images from the<br />
thermal and color sensors,<br />
can be used to gain the benefit<br />
of both the thermal and<br />
color sensors in a single image<br />
stream.”<br />
For airborne surveillance<br />
and reconnaissance, Jennison<br />
said, L-3 Wescam’s MX-10, MX-15, MX-20 and<br />
MX-25 surveillance turrets boast high definition<br />
imaging sensors with exceptional visual<br />
range performance. “The ability to detect,<br />
recognize and identify targets from longer<br />
standoff distances relative to our competitors<br />
directly translates to reduced operating costs<br />
for our customers,” he said.<br />
The company’s MX-GEO software suite<br />
also provides accurate geo-referencing for all<br />
imagery. “This helps target detection and<br />
tracking software applications distinguish<br />
persistent target features from temporary<br />
false alarms,” Jennison said. “Interruption and<br />
resumption of scan patterns to view potential<br />
targets at high magnification is also more<br />
efficient.”<br />
Leveraging Tethered Aerostats<br />
Finally, in addition to both manned and<br />
unmanned aircraft, tethered aerostats offer<br />
another platform from which to perform surveillance<br />
over a wide area, including in open<br />
water. Craig Laws, U.S. Navy program manager<br />
at Raven Aerostar, said his company’s<br />
aerostats help to sidestep many of the visibility<br />
issues caused by waves in high sea states. “An<br />
aerostat is particularly useful if targets are<br />
shielded by swells,” he said. “We can adjust<br />
the altitude of the aerostat to compensate, to<br />
see over those swells and improve the range.<br />
In addition, the radar our subsidiary company,<br />
Vista Research, has optimized for the aerostat<br />
is very well-suited for that application: We are<br />
constantly making improvements<br />
in its detect rate and<br />
range.”<br />
Most importantly, Laws<br />
said, aerostats are unmatched<br />
in their persistence. “We can<br />
fly for weeks at a time, mooring<br />
periodically for helium topoffs,<br />
sending them right back<br />
up. Really, the only time you<br />
would need to bring one down<br />
Craig Laws<br />
is for a helium top-off, to do<br />
maintenance on a sensor or for<br />
severe weather,” he said.<br />
Laws said it’s important<br />
to keep in mind that aerostats<br />
aren’t limited to landbased<br />
deployments; they can<br />
be a perfect fit for a marine<br />
environment. “You can take<br />
the systems to sea—you really<br />
just need a deck, or a place to<br />
David Smith launch the aerostat. We had<br />
an application with a research<br />
team that utilized aerostats to monitor water<br />
and weather data. The aerostats were placed<br />
out in the Indian Ocean and left unattended<br />
for weeks at a time,” he said. “The operators<br />
would periodically go out on a boat, pull them<br />
down, replace batteries, and put them right<br />
back up.” O<br />
For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief<br />
Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com<br />
or search our online archives for related stories<br />
at www.cgf-kmi.com.<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 25
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Symposium<br />
Philadelphia, Pa.<br />
www.navalengineers.org<br />
NEXTISSUE<br />
May 29-31, 2013<br />
Border Management<br />
Summit Southwest<br />
Tucson, Ariz.<br />
www.idga.com<br />
June 25-27, 2013<br />
Mega Rust 2013<br />
Newport News, Va.<br />
www.navalengineers.org<br />
MARINE OFF-LOAD HOOKS<br />
∆ Sales<br />
∆ Service<br />
∆ Load Testing<br />
∆ Recertifications<br />
Delta T Systems, Inc.<br />
United States Agent for Eagle Products, Ky<br />
(561) 204-1500 www.deltatsystems.com sales@deltatsystems.com<br />
July 24-25, 2013<br />
ASME/USCG Workshop on<br />
Marine Technology and<br />
Standards<br />
Arlington, Va.<br />
workshop@usg.mil<br />
August 27-28, 2013<br />
Fleet Maintenance<br />
and Modernization<br />
Symposium<br />
San Diego, Calif.<br />
www.navalengineers.org<br />
June 2013<br />
Vol. 5, Issue 2<br />
Cover and In-Depth Interview with:<br />
Rear Ad. <strong>Robert</strong> E. Day<br />
Assistant Commandant for C4IT<br />
and Chief Information Officer<br />
U.S. Coast Guard<br />
Features<br />
Maritime Displays<br />
The maritime environment is hard on electronics. Panel displays and consoles<br />
are designed for the rigors of at-sea deployments.<br />
Port Security<br />
U.S. ports represent direct points of entry into the country and require<br />
screening and inspection technologies to keep them secure. There is also an<br />
underwater threat to port infrastructure and shipping that must be considered.<br />
Presence Afloat:<br />
Offshore Patrol Cutters, National Security Cutters, and Response<br />
Boats<br />
Several key ship programs are important to the Coast Guard’s ability to<br />
perform critical missions and meet operational standards. New technologies<br />
make each of these platforms perfectly suited for their roles.<br />
Budget Woes<br />
Money is tight, but how much tighter can the Coast Guard be squeezed?<br />
Top Contracts<br />
A look at the Coast Guard’s top contracts awarded.<br />
Special Section<br />
IT Modernization<br />
How can cloud computing benefit the Coast Guard<br />
and how can cybersecurity efforts protect the<br />
data?<br />
Insertion Order Deadline: June 3, 2013 • Ad Materials Deadline: June 10, 2013<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com CGF 5.1 | 27
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW U.S. Coast Guard Forum<br />
William (Bill) E. Skinner<br />
Chief Executive Officer<br />
VT Halter Marine Shipyard<br />
Bill Skinner has over 40 years of experience<br />
in the shipbuilding industry. He<br />
has been with VT Halter Marine Inc. since<br />
October 2002, serving as COO from 2005-<br />
2009 and now as the company’s CEO.<br />
Skinner holds a Bachelor of Science in<br />
management from the University of Mobile<br />
and is a member of the Society of Naval<br />
Architects and Marine Engineers, the<br />
American Bureau of Shipping, the American<br />
Welding Society, and the Propeller<br />
Club of the United States.<br />
Q: Can you tell us about VT Halter Marine?<br />
A: VT Halter Marine is a mid-tier shipyard<br />
with about 2,100 employees that has been<br />
building ships along the Gulf Coast for over<br />
50 years. In fact, the roots of the company<br />
can be traced back to Higgins Industries<br />
who built the famous Higgins boats of<br />
WWII. That proud commitment to delivering<br />
quality products that meet mission<br />
requirements has endured as a hallmark of<br />
the company.<br />
Today, VT Halter Marine is actually<br />
comprised of three shipyards located in Pascagoula,<br />
Moss Point, and Escatawpa, Miss.<br />
Q: What types of vessels do you build?<br />
A: At VT Halter Marine, we can build just<br />
about anything—from 112-foot offshore<br />
articulated tug barges for New York-based<br />
Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc. to 700-<br />
foot RO-RO car carriers for Pasha Hawaii.<br />
We do a lot of work with the U.S. Navy.<br />
In March, we launched a new 253-foot Navy<br />
T-AGS 66 oceanographic research vessel.<br />
We are also building four fast missile craft<br />
[FMC], also known as the Ambassador IV,<br />
for the Egyptian Navy under a U.S. Navy<br />
foreign military sale. Although it is only<br />
210 feet long, the FMC can make 34-plus<br />
knots and is equipped with potent offensive<br />
and defensive weapons systems.<br />
Q: Tell us about your decision to bid on<br />
the U.S. Coast Guard’s offshore patrol<br />
craft [OPC].<br />
A: Our bid/no-bid decision was based on our<br />
strong belief that we could deliver a winning<br />
OPC design that would meet the operational<br />
needs of the Coast Guard now and in the<br />
future. We teamed with the premier French<br />
ship designer DCNS.<br />
We also brought in a team of Coast Guard<br />
subject matter experts to help us refine the<br />
design. We understand how important these<br />
ships are to the Coast Guard’s recapitalization<br />
effort. The Coast Guard badly needs to<br />
replace the aging medium endurance cutters<br />
with new, multi-mission ships that are<br />
modern, capable and built to ABS standards<br />
for safety, survivability and crew habitability.<br />
Our OPC concept design is all of that and<br />
more.<br />
Q: I understand that you bid on the U.S.<br />
Coast Guard’s fast response craft [FRC].<br />
A: Yes. We put forward an excellent design,<br />
but we weren’t selected. Still, it was good<br />
experience for us.<br />
By participating in the bid process for<br />
the FRC, we learned a lot about the current<br />
and future needs of the Coast Guard. We also<br />
learned about the Coast Guard’s acquisition<br />
process. All of those insights were applied to<br />
our design effort for the OPC.<br />
Q: What distinguishes VT Halter Marine<br />
from its competitors?<br />
A: That’s easy; it’s our people, our knowhow,<br />
and our superior equipment and processes.<br />
VT Halter Marine builds high-quality<br />
marine vessels at affordable prices. That’s<br />
what we do. Our location in the southeastern<br />
United States affords us an abundance<br />
of skilled labor at competitive rates.<br />
We have coupled that experienced<br />
workforce with state-of-the-art automated<br />
equipment. We have a covered facility for<br />
fabrication, and we are undergoing a significant<br />
shipyard expansion project at the<br />
Pascagoula facility.<br />
In addition, a few years ago we implemented<br />
a very successful quality assurance<br />
program. These various improvements<br />
have allowed us to enhance the quality of<br />
our products while improving overall cost<br />
containment.<br />
Finally, we are a mid-tier yard, which<br />
gives us a competitive advantage over the<br />
larger yards. Our size allows us to be nimble<br />
enough to tackle a variety of contracts<br />
while remaining extremely competitive on<br />
price. I like working at a mid-tier yard.<br />
We are a tightknit group. We look<br />
out for each other, and our people take<br />
tremendous pride in delivering a quality<br />
product.<br />
Q: Are you concerned about the current<br />
federal budget situation?<br />
A: I think any CEO of a company that does<br />
business with the U.S. government needs<br />
to be aware of the budget environment in<br />
Washington, D.C. Luckily, we have a fairly<br />
diversified portfolio, so that helps.<br />
But, I can certainly appreciate the<br />
federal government’s want to get the most<br />
bang for their buck. That has always<br />
been the case, but it is magnified by the<br />
current budget situation. I think that is<br />
one of the reasons why firm fixed price<br />
contracts are so attractive these days. At<br />
VT Halter Marine, almost every job we<br />
bid is fixed price. We are very comfortable<br />
with operating on a fixed price structure.<br />
So, besides producing quality ships, we<br />
see ourselves as a safe bet for the federal<br />
government and a terrific value for the<br />
American taxpayer. O<br />
28 | CGF 5.1<br />
www.CGF-kmi.com
MAXIMUM MISSION EFFECTIVENESS<br />
FROM AN UNMATChEd TEAM<br />
Vigor OPC featuring the Ulstein X-BOW ® . Affordable innovation and proven<br />
performance from a team of leading maritime innovators and trusted Coast<br />
Guard experts. We stand ready to build an exceptionally capable offshore patrol<br />
cutter to support the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard.<br />
Vigor OPC. See it in action at VigorOPC.com