U.S. Energy Boom Changes Coast Guard Mission

As if it did not have enough new missions added to its responsibilities, the U.S. Coast Guard may find itself adding more emphasis to an old activity. The recent boom in U.S. fossil fuel extraction and production offers to increase the traffic of energy products on U.S. rivers, and the Coast Guard will need to increase its vigilance of this burgeoning river traffic.

Rear Adm. Bruce D. Baffer, USCG, assistant commandant for acquisition and chief acquisition officer, related this development in a Wednesday panel discussion at West 2015, being held in San Diego, February 10-12. The Coast Guard must ensure that the petroleum product traffic increasingly making its way down U.S. rivers does not cause any problems, he noted.

This task will fall heavily on the Coast Guard’s inland tender fleet. While the Coast Guard is in the midst of replacing many of its aging vessels, this inland fleet is not slated for widespread replacement. Yet, many of the vessels are 60 years old. They are relatively inexpensive, Adm. Baffer noted, but no plans to replace them are in the works yet.