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Homeland Security 5 Year Anniversary 2003 - 2008, One Team, One Mission Securing the Homeland

Fact Sheet: Protecting the Nation's Ports

Release Date: 03/23/04 00:00:00

As a member of the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard continues to play an integral role in maintaining the operations of our ports and waterways by providing a secure environment in which mariners and the American people can safely go about the business of living and working freely. The Coast Guard's port security mission is not new, but it is definitely more visible today than it was prior to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Coast Guard remains at a heightened state of alert protecting more than 361 ports and 95,000 miles of coastline, America's longest border.  Highlights of the Coast Guard's port security efforts include:

  • Implementing the Maritime Transportation Security Act regulations, groundbreaking legislation that enhances security at ports, facilities and vessels nationwide by ensuring uniform standards of security exists throughout our U.S port environment.  As of March 16, the Coast Guard has received over 99 percent of the required vessel and facility security plans required under the act.
  •  Identifying nine individuals holding merchant mariner credentials with possible associations to terrorism through Operation Drydock, a cooperative investigation with the FBI that has also led to about a dozen arrests to date for providing fraudulent information to the government on a merchant mariner application.
  •  Leading the world community as the U.S. representative to the International Maritime Organization in creating the first worldwide standard for maritime security by adding security amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea convention and the International Ship and Port Security Code. By successfully advancing this proposal, and achieving nearly universal agreement, we are now partnering with over 100 nations to increase safety and security at sea around the globe.
  • Enhancing port safety and security by commissioning new Maritime Safety and Security Teams in San Francisco, Houston, New York and St. Mary's, Ga., bringing the total number of teams nationwide to eight.  Assigned to vital ports, these teams can conduct rapid, nationwide response and are capable of deployment via air, ground or sea.
  •  The United States Coast Guard has prevented more than 136,800 pounds of cocaine, over 14,000 pounds of marijuana and more than 800 pounds of hashish from reaching the United States, and interdicting over 6,000 undocumented migrants attempting to enter the country illegally by sea.

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March 23, 2004

This page was last reviewed/modified on 03/23/04 00:00:00.