Caribbean Mass Migration Operations: MOOTW with the US Coast Guard in the Lead

The Great Lakes represent the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world along a 1,500 mile international boundary between the United States and Canada. A source of drinking water for 35 million people and a hub of unique biodiversity, a major petrochemical spill would be devastating. With the increase in pipeline activity due to regional tar sands drilling and the navigationally challenging waterways hosting an increasing stream of petrochemical commerce, risk to the Lakes is higher than ever. Given the Lake's closed-system nature and their geographic remoteness relative to current US and Canadian government and private sector assets, the current response posture is inadequate. As the primary maritime spill response agency in the United States, the US Coast Guard retains the mantle of prevention and planning for a Great Lakes petrochemical disaster. This paper seeks to examine the historic, current, and future states of the Great Lakes' oil-spill risk, in light of increased maritime commerce and recent spill “near-misses” regarding submerged pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The US Congress and the US Coast Guard have identified that the Great Lakes are not prepared for a large scale spill. Current resourcing levels and technology are insufficient, especially given the challenge of responding while the Lakes are frozen for a substantial portion of the year. With resources focused on the prospect of disaster in salt water regions, the “inland seas” of the Great Lakes receive too little attention. After identifying the evolution of Great Lakes spill prevention and response policy, this paper will apply the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon spill as a case study into what spill response would look like on the Great Lakes. Given the authors' expansive experience as an operator during that historic spill and current commander of one of two US oil spill response assets in the Great Lakes, this paper will also identify remaining challenges to an effective spill response policy, and conclude with recommendations on how to tackle the response issues identified. The US Congress recently established the US Coast Guard's National Center of Expertise for the Great Lakes and one of their primary tasks is to analyze the effect of a spill in freshwater and develop an appropriate response plan. By attempting to identify critical gaps, this paper seeks to advance government and industry's ability to posture the region swiftly in the face of a growing threat and assist in the Center's work.

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Advancing Effective Leaders: An Example of the Management Education at the US Coast Guard Academy

Interdisciplinary Education and Psychology ◽

10.31532/interdiscipeducpsychol.1.1.002 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Alina M. Zapalska ◽

Mike McCarty ◽

Kimberly C. Young-McLear ◽

Tyler Kelley

Keyword(s):

Management Education ◽

Coast Guard ◽

Effective Leaders ◽

The Us ◽

Us Coast Guard

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Impact of Pontoon Vessel Geometry on Allowable Passenger Weight Using USCG Pontoon Simplified Stability Test

Journal of Ship Production and Design ◽

10.5957/jspd.2010.26.2.135 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 26 (02) ◽

pp. 135-143

Author(s):

Lisa L. Myatt ◽

Brian Thomas ◽

Todd Taylor

Keyword(s):

Parametric Analysis ◽

Graphical Analysis ◽

Coast Guard ◽

Stability Test ◽

The Us ◽

Us Coast Guard ◽

Analysis Of Stability ◽

Vessel Stability

A parametric analysis of stability was performed for more than 30,000 geometric variants of cylindrical-hulled pontoon vessels to quantify the impacts of vessel geometry and prepassenger displacement on the maximum passenger weight allowed by the US Coast Guard (USCG) Pontoon Simplified Stability Test (PSST). Variables examined included pontoon diameter, pontoon length, pontoon separation, deck height, passenger deck width, location of forward and aft edges of the passenger deck, prepassenger displacement prior to loading, and trim. Each pontoon vessel variant was evaluated using General Hydrostatics Software to apply the PSST to determine the maximum passenger weight allowed for that vessel. Graphical analysis of the data demonstrated that a vessel's allowable passenger weight increases with: an increased pontoon diameter or length of pontoon, a decreased deck height, a limited increase in pontoon separation or beam ratio, and a symmetrically decreased passenger deck width or length. Additionally, it was found that each specific vessel has an optimum prepassenger displacement, unique to its pontoon diameter and length of pontoons, which maximizes the allowable passenger weight. Finally, a method is provided to correlate the present results with prior related work by other authors that characterized pontoon vessel stability in the context of pontoon percent submergence.

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