Port of Long Beach Hosts Situational Awareness Exercise
Public, military and private sector leaders met to discuss how the Port of Long Beach (PoLB) model of a surface and subsurface situational awareness network can be a template for other ports to help increase America's resilience during the first 72 hours of a national or large-scale crisis, informs the ReadyCommunities Partnership (RCP). The RCP Military Base and Port Community Resiliency Initiative Hon. Chairman is Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (pictured) and the Initiative Hon. Co-Chairman is Hon.
Missing Airliner: Another Australian Warship Joins Hunt
The Royal Australian Navy informs that its warship HMAS Toowoomba has left Fleet Base West near Perth to join the international search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The Anzac-class frigate has been diverted from other operational tasks to join the search and is carrying a S-70B2 Seahawk helicopter which was flown from the RAN’s Naval Air Station HMAS Albatross by a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17A Globemaster.
BP Whiting Oil Spill: Latest Update
The US Coast Guard informs that weather conditions improved overnight enabling clean up operations and assessment activities to progress near the BP Whiting Refinery in Whiting, Indiana. High winds and heavy surf created unsafe conditions for contractors and assessment team personnel both Friday and Saturday, suspending activities. A Coast Guard helicopter returning from a separate mission conducted an overflight assessment of the area and did not observe any oil sheen on the water.
Sick Crew Member Airlifted Off Crowley Tankship
The Coast Guard informs it has medevaced a 54-year-old crewmember from the Crowley Maritime's US-flagged motor tanker 'Pennsylvania' approximately 20 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. The master of the 576-foot Pennsylvania notified Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders that a crewmember was suffering from chest pain and needed medical attention. Sector watchstanders launched a crew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., to assist.
Coast Guard Matagorda Bay Responds to Further Oil Pollution
The US Coast Guard informs that clean-up and response teams from the Matagorda Bay Incident Command Post are responding to sightings of oil near North Padre Island and along sporadic portions of Mustang Island in Corpus Christi. Additional sightings also include tar balls in the area, although it is not clear whether the tar balls are the result of the March 22 spill near Texas City. However, response teams from Miller Environmental…
