Question about Armed Coast Guard Escort

[maldenmusic]

Back in 2009, we cruised out of NOLA and for about an hour we had armed Coast Guard boats, one on each side of the ship, escort us down the Mississippi River. 8 other cruises out of NOLA and we've never seen them again. Any idea what might have been going on? Higher terror level? I just ran across the pictures and it made me remember. It caused quite a stir among the young women on deck because they thought the CG guys were handsome. :)

[Je Souhaite]

We had that for each of our Disney cruises out of Port Canaveral. Sailed out the channel, and then sitting there on both side of us; warships.

 

 

Kind of freaky to see.

 

And sorry, can't answer your question.

[john91498]

Last time out of Long Beach, there were also 2 CG boats on each side. Interesting to see the guns on the front of each boat.

[ryano]

We had that for each of our Disney cruises out of Port Canaveral. Sailed out the channel, and then sitting there on both side of us; warships.

 

 

Kind of freaky to see.

 

And sorry, can't answer your question.

 

I always see them out of PC. I think they are just Port Security.

[ryano]

Back in 2009, we cruised out of NOLA and for about an hour we had armed Coast Guard boats, one on each side of the ship, escort us down the Mississippi River. 8 other cruises out of NOLA and we've never seen them again. Any idea what might have been going on? Higher terror level? I just ran across the pictures and it made me remember. It caused quite a stir among the young women on deck because they thought the CG guys were handsome. :)

 

I believe the official title is USCG Port Security Unit. Im pretty sure all ports have them. You just dont always see them.

[maldenmusic]

Ok that makes sense. It was really cool to see.

[SadieN]

Last time out of Long Beach, there were also 2 CG boats on each side. Interesting to see the guns on the front of each boat.

 

 

We've also had Mexican naval boats on MR cruises. Made no difference the cruiseline.

 

 

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[Aquahound]

Back in 2009, we cruised out of NOLA and for about an hour we had armed Coast Guard boats, one on each side of the ship, escort us down the Mississippi River. 8 other cruises out of NOLA and we've never seen them again. Any idea what might have been going on? Higher terror level? I just ran across the pictures and it made me remember. It caused quite a stir among the young women on deck because they thought the CG guys were handsome. :)

 

No, not a higher terror level. Armed CG escorts are very common nowadays in and out of US ports. In fact, you see it much more than not.

[coevan]

Coast Guard are always armed.

[Aquahound]

Coast Guard are always armed.

 

No, not really.

[loubetti]

The question begs in this day and age: Would you prefer they not be there?

[Essiesmom]

We had them all the way down the river in Feb. leaving JAX. EM

[MtnDweller]

When we cruised on the Fantasy out of Charleston in February, we had the boats and the helicopter.

 

 

 

Our first port stop was Freeport and we also had the USCGC Paul Clark.

 

[Ofmyheart]

Lou Betti,

 

Last I knew the Regal Empress was still cruising, day trips under a different name.

Will never forget our cruise in her.

[Langoustine]

Last I knew the Regal Empress was still cruising, day trips under a different name.

 

I wish that was true, because she was quite beautiful, but no such luck. Her last voyage took place on March 6, 2009. She departed Freeport in early April to sail to her final destination in Alang. She was beached on July 24th, 2009. Scrapping began in October, and the demolition of the ship was completed in early 2010.

[elliair]

If you leave out of San Francisco, they are with us until we get under the Golden Gate Bridge. We saw one of them get after a windsurfer who got too close to the ship. There was always one on the gun.:eek:

[Texasopa]

The Coast Guard is now under Department of Homeland Security since 2003, before they were under Department of Transportation.

I'm sure all of the Security details are armed. When I was in, in the early 70's

we were never armed.

Things have changed a lot since then.

They usually escort cruise ships out of Galveston.

[Purvis1231]

We are always happy to see the Coast Guard on the water and on the ship.

[RuthlessBoss]

I believe the official title is USCG Port Security Unit. Im pretty sure all ports have them. You just dont always see them.

 

You mean they can "cloak" like in Startrek? :D

[PattBenatar]

Coast Guard does drills all the time, we had one from Key West and 2 armed ships escorted us out of port.

[chengkp75]

Just like any big government agency, there are different departments within the USCG. Paul (Aquahound) as an investigator is probably not armed. The USCG Port State Control officers who do the cruise ship crew drills and safety inspectors are never armed. The Search and Rescue teams that do the medevacs are not armed.

 

The armed personnel you see are the "Sea Marshals". They patrol to protect "high value" targets like cruise ships, or ships with large cargoes of explosive materials, tankers, etc. Typically for a cruise ship, in addition to the RHIB boats you see, there will be 4-6 men armed with sidearms and M-16's onboard the cruise ship. They will be in the Bridge, Engine Control Room, and Steering Gear Room. It always raises the passenger's eyebrows when they go for breakfast in the buffet with their weapons.

 

The reason you don't see them all the time is money. The USCG just doesn't have the budget to do armed escorts for every high value target every time, particularly when the MarSec (Maritime Security) level is "one" (the lowest and most common). If the MarSec level at a port is increased, you would see these patrols more often.

[Micahs Grandad]

Just like any big government agency, there are different departments within the USCG. Paul (Aquahound) as an investigator is probably not armed. The USCG Port State Control officers who do the cruise ship crew drills and safety inspectors are never armed. The Search and Rescue teams that do the medevacs are not armed.

 

The armed personnel you see are the "Sea Marshals". They patrol to protect "high value" targets like cruise ships, or ships with large cargoes of explosive materials, tankers, etc. Typically for a cruise ship, in addition to the RHIB boats you see, there will be 4-6 men armed with sidearms and M-16's onboard the cruise ship. They will be in the Bridge, Engine Control Room, and Steering Gear Room. It always raises the passenger's eyebrows when they go for breakfast in the buffet with their weapons.

 

The reason you don't see them all the time is money. The USCG just doesn't have the budget to do armed escorts for every high value target every time, particularly when the MarSec (Maritime Security) level is "one" (the lowest and most common). If the MarSec level at a port is increased, you would see these patrols more often.

 

Thanks for sharing. Interesting though that after 30 plus cruises have never seen an armed crewmember. No problem with that crewmembers being armed for our protection.

[Cruzaholic41]

Paul (Aquahound) as an investigator is probably not armed. The USCG Port State Control officers who do the cruise ship crew drills and safety inspectors are never armed. The Search and Rescue teams that do the medevacs are not armed.

 

Oh, he's armed. He's going to kill me for saying this, but he's the Mark Harmon of his agency.

 

My husband was a uniformed Port State Control Officer who wasn't armed and inspected ships. People like Paul were called in when there was crime and someone needed to be indicted and imprisoned.

[loubetti]

I wish that was true, because she was quite beautiful, but no such luck. Her last voyage took place on March 6, 2009. She departed Freeport in early April to sail to her final destination in Alang. She was beached on July 24th, 2009. Scrapping began in October, and the demolition of the ship was completed in early 2010.

 

Sad, but correct and, I figured it out. It was her mention in my signature that brought mention of this great ship to this thread!

[maldenmusic]

I'll be cruising out of NOLA again on July 4th and will be watching for our "escorts." I enjoyed having them beside us.