Pelosi Announces $154,200 Homeland Security Grant for San Francisco's Blue & Gold Fleet

September 13, 2004

San Francisco -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced today that San Francisco’s Blue & Gold Fleet will receive $154,200 in federal Homeland Security funds for physical enhancements in the fourth round of federal Port Security grants.

"These funds are critical to making San Francisco safer and protecting our economic well-being," Pelosi said. "To protect the people of San Francisco, we must invest in safeguarding our ports and waterways."

The Port Security Grant Program provides resources for projects to improve dockside and perimeter security that is vital to securing our critical national seaports.

This grant will contribute to security upgrades and physical enhancements for the Blue & Gold Fleet’s three OSKI Class vessels - the OSKI, the Golden Bear, and Old Blue. These funds will allow the Blue & Gold Fleet to install permanent doors and alarms so the second decks can be secured and inaccessible when these vessels are not in service.

Blue & Gold Fleet is the Bay Area's largest provider of ferry and water excursion services. Blue & Gold Fleet is the exclusive provider of tours to Alcatraz under concession to the National Park Service, and offers ferry service to Sausalito, Tiburon, Alameda/Oakland, Vallejo and Angel Island, as well as cruises of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Office for Domestic Preparedness, Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, the United States Coast Guard, and the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration evaluated this round of port security grant applications and selected 154 award recipients across the nation for this round of awards totaling $49 million.

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