Issue: December 2022

The U.S. Coast Guard’s newest 154-foot fast response cutter, Douglas Denman, was officially commissioned Sept. 28 in Ketchikan, Alaska.  Vice Adm. Andrew J. Tiongson, commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area, and Rear Adm. Nathan A. Moore, commander of Coast Guard 17th District, were on hand to formally accept the cutter, named in honor of a man who helped crew members evacuate the sinking USS Colhoun after it was attacked by an aircraft in 1942. Denman was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals. He served in the Coast Guard for a total of 20 years before retiring in 1961 as a senior chief petty officer. The Douglas Denman is the 49th fast response cutter and the third of its class in Southeast Alaska, according to the agency. “The Sentinel-class cutters deliver vital capabilit...

The public has until Dec. 2 to weigh in on an environmental document pertaining to the U.S. Coast Guard’s proposal to expand and modernize Base Seattle, officials announced Oct. 11. The Coast Guard has released a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement regarding the proposal, a document that looks at the possible environmental effects of proposed alternatives. “The purpose of the expansion is to provide adequate facilities and infrastructure at Base Seattle to support current and future execution of the Coast Guard’s statutory missions,” military officials said. “Base Seattle is the largest Coast Guard facility in the Pacific Northwest and is an essential facility to support Coast Guard missions in both the local area, as well as the Polar Regions, now and for the foreseeable f...

After 55 days on narcotics enforcement patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Steadfast returned to Astoria, Ore. on Oct. 3. The 210-foot medium endurance cutter traveled over 11,000 miles between Oregon and Central America, for training, law enforcement, search-and-rescue and helicopter operations in international waters, the agency said. The crew was deployed with Maintenance Augmentation Team Seattle, Electronic Support Detachment Petaluma and another cutter, the Argus, which is expected to be commissioned soon, according to the Coast Guard. During its tour, the Steadfast pursued a high-speed, panga-style vessel suspected of smuggling contraband before handing off the case to a partner nation. “This was a wildly productive deployment with noteworthy enhancements to crew qualification...

After 36 years as executive director of the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association, Jerry Dzugan is stepping away from executive tasks to focus on what he says loves most, program development and training mariners to be safer at sea. To Dzugan, who has taught hundreds of people everything from ergonomics to keep them fit for their work to survival when they have to abandon ship, teaching is a passion he said that he wants to devote his work with AMSEA to, starting in 2023. He will be involved in program development and training, and marine safety policy, like working with the Coast Guard on policy and with other regulatory agencies, he said. “I consider it repurposing myself, focusing on the training program itself,” Dzugan said. “It needs more support on policy with the Coast Gua...

The Coast Guard 17th District Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety office on Oct. 25 reported just the second fatality-free commercial fishing season in Alaska for fiscal year 2022.  The first fatality-free year in the Alaskan fishing industry occurred in 2015, according to the Coast Guard. The statistics are measured in the federal fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 each year. An “operational” fatality is defined as a death occurring as a result of an incident at sea, such as a man overboard, a sunken or lost vessel, or an on-deck accident. “I give most all the credit to the fishing industry when it comes to staying safe and alive,” Scott Wilwert, Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinator, Coast Guard 17th District, said. “The efforts of Coast Guard fishing vessel e...

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski’s office is accepting comments from the public through Dec. 2 regarding the Working Waterfront Framework legislation that she plans to introduce during the next congressional session. The legislation to help boost industries such as tourism, fisheries and mariculture would address needs of smaller port and harbor communities through support for boat ramps, harbor floats and bathhouses, and fisheries disaster assistance for subsistence users. Currently, the initiative is in a crowd-sourcing phase, with Murkowski wanting to hear from the public before actual legislation is written. The framework includes measures to help coastal communities upgrade their shoreside infrastructure, and places a focus on workforce development, through support of educational an...

Vancouver, BC-based Shift Clean Energy has been selected to supply its energy storage systems to 17 new hybrid and electric tugboats in a step forward for decarbonizing the marine industry, the company announced Sept. 28. Customers include Vallianz Holdings and Zeeboat for fully electric tugboats, and others soon-to-be-named for large-scale hybrids set to begin operations in 2023 and 2024, according to Shift. “We are seeing customers and designers gravitate towards our solutions due to their inherent reliability, long life and safe operations,” Shift CEO and founder Brent Perry said. “Safety and industry leading cost efficiency are at the core of delivering these projects.” Electric tugboats have economic and environmental advantages. An operational e-tug can reduce at least 150 tons of...

Ocean conservation group and international charity Oceana Canada is warning that there’s an urgent need to accelerate government commitments and action to bring Canada’s fish populations back to health. The organization also calls for prioritizing thriving fisheries and healthy oceans that build resilience in communities, contribute to the seafood economy and provide essential social-cultural and nutritional value. The remarks were made during Oceana Canada’s symposium, “Rebuilding Abundance: Priorities for a Resilient Ocean,” held on Ontario on Oct. 26. The event brought together leading ocean and fishery experts, Indigenous and fishing industry leaders and policymakers from across Canada. The symposium is intended to chart a course for restoring abundance in Canada’s oceans, priorit...

Alaska officials are seeking a federal fisheries disaster declaration for the 2022-23 Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries. Gov. Mike Dunleavy said on Tuesday, Oct. 25 that he also has asked Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to expedite a disaster determine for the 2021-22 red king crab fishery. Dunleavy’s plea to the Commerce Department said information available to him indicated that both crab stock declines were a result of natural causes linked to warming ocean temperatures. The fisheries industry and affected communities in Alaska will need economic relief, he said. Alaska’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, has also urged aid for the crab industry, in a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Appr...