The Coast Guard Announces Deployment of Homeport

The Coast Guard officially announced its initial deployment of Homeport, an internet portal. Homeport (version 1.0) is the official Coast Guard information technology system for maritime security created to provide information and services to the maritime community and the public over the Internet. Coast Guard Federal Maritime Security Coordinators will use Homeport as a primary means for the day-to-day management and communication of port security matters with Area Maritime Security Committee members, commercial vessel and facility owners and operators, government partners, and the public. Homeport will afford instant access to information necessary to support increased information sharing requirements amongst Federal, state, local and industry decision makers for security management and increased maritime domain awareness. Homeport is a publicly accessible internet portal providing all users with current maritime security information. It will also serve as the Coast Guard’s communication tool designed to support the sharing, collection and dissemination of sensitive but unclassified information to targeted groups of registered users within the port community. Homeport meets critical mission requirements in support of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 for sharing security information, and has the potential to revolutionize the way the Coast Guard communicates with the public, its partners and maritime stakeholders