Port Recovery and Salvage Response
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report titled ‘Maritime Security: Coast Guard Efforts to Address Port Recovery and Salvage Response’, provides a description of the mechanisms that the US Coast Guard uses to accomplish its planning in the various Group 1 size ports areas.
Maritime Security: Coast Guard Efforts to Address Port Recovery and Salvage Response
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ports, waterways, and vessels are part of an economic engine handling more than $700 billion in merchandise annually, and a major disruption to this system could have a widespread impact on global shipping, international trade, and the global economy. As the lead federal agency for the Marine Transportation System (MTS), the U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for facilitating the recovery of the MTS following a significant transportation disruption, such as a security incident or natural disaster, and working with maritime stakeholders for the expeditious resumption of trade.
Area Maritime Security (AMS) Plans, which are developed by the Coast Guard with input from applicable governmental and private entities, serve as the primary means to identify and coordinate Coast Guard procedures related to prevention, protection, and security response, as well as facilitation of MTS recovery.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Coast Guard conducted efforts to identify additional recovery-related elements and incorporate them within its AMS Plans to help ensure a consistent approach to MTS recovery and trade resumption. In addition, the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (SAFE Port Act) required that AMS Plans include a Salvage Response Plan to ensure that waterways are cleared and port commerce is reestablished as efficiently and quickly as possible following a transportation security incident (TSI), among other things……..
Access full GAO report here: Maritime Security: Coast Guard Efforts to Address Port Recovery and Salvage Response
