The Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee held a meeting Sept. 10, 2018 at Saint Lawrence Seaway Pilots’ Association in Cape Vincent, New York, to discuss Committee matters relating to Great Lakes pilotage, including review of proposed Great Lakes pilotage regulations and policies. This post provides a summary of the discussions as well as links to the meeting transcript and other related documents.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/26/2018: Summary of recent Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee meeting

We continue our National Cybersecurity Awareness Month series with a post from the Domestic Ports Division of the Office of Port and Facility Compliance that discusses the important contributions the 43 Area Maritime Security Committees make at local levels to address cyber threats and vulnerabilities. In this post, we focus on the teamwork and cooperation of the AMSCs in Northern New England, the Sault Region, Hawaii and American Samoa, and Charleston, S.C.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/26/2018: National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – Area Maritime Security Committees

Commercial and civil users who experience impacts are encouraged to contact the Navigation Center through its website or by phone at (703) 313-5900.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/24/2018: Modifications to GPS space and ground control segment

The workshop provides a forum for the exchange of ideas related to the operation of autonomous vessels in the maritime sector, as well as ship automation and cyber risk management in the maritime domain. The objective is to identify potential opportunities for standards and related products applicable to advancements in automation, autonomous shipping, and maritime-specific cyber risk management issues.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/24/2018: Coast Guard to present during ASTM International’s automation and cybersecurity workshop

The Coast Guard works with other governmental agencies and private partners to identify best practices and resources for cyber risk management. These key partnerships are important to help ensure efforts to combat cybersecurity issues are most efficiently managed. This article highlights governmental agencies’ cyber interactions and some of the resources they can provide.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/19/2018: National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – Governmental Agencies Interaction and Resources

This post provides information on a letter recently sent to the Coast Guard accepted independent laboratories providing guidance for evaluating manufacturer-identified operational limitations during type approval testing of ballast water management systems. The letter clarifies the responsibilities of the BWMS manufacturer, the Coast Guard accepted IL, and the Coast Guard, with regard to evaluating and assessing operational limitations of BWMS.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/17/2018: U.S. Ballast Water Management Requirements: Operational limitations in type approval testing

In accordance with Federal Regulations, duplicate Merchant Mariner Credentials may be issued free of charge to mariners whose credentials were lost or destroyed as a result of Hurricane Michael or subsequent flooding.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/17/2018: Credentials lost due to Hurricane Michael

The following products are available from the Navigation Center website:

• The Eighth (Gulf) Coast Guard District Local Notice to Mariners (42-2018): https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm0842g2018.pdf
• The weekly update to the 2018 USCG Light List, Volume Four: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=lightListWeeklyUpdates
  
• The Summary of Corrections: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/corrections/V4D08GM.pdf

If the links above do not work, you should either copy and paste the links into your web browser or follow the LNM links from the Navigation Center LNM page.

The Local Notice to Mariners, Light List, and Summary of Corrections are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and viewing them requires a PDF reader.  PDF readers are readily available on the internet, generally free of charge.

To download the latest information:

• Place your mouse over the “PDF” symbol next to the corresponding week.
• Right click for PC / Control click for Mac.
• Choose “Save Target As”.
• Save the PDF to your computer and open using your PDF reader.

If you have questions regarding this message, please contact the Navigation Center (use “LNMs, Charts, Chart Corrections, or Light Lists” as the subject from the pull down menu).

Source: LNM District 8
Link: District 08 (GULF) Week 42 LNM Now Available on Navigation Center Website

The NAIS is a collaborative organization between the Ice Services of the United States and Canada that takes advantage of each members’ strengths to provide seamless ice information to government and commercial maritime interests in the Polar Regions, North American waters, and the Great Lakes.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/15/2018: Recap of North American Ice Service’s 16th annual meeting focusing on modernization of ice services

As one of the lead agencies tasked with ensuring the safety and security of the Marine Transportation System and maritime critical infrastructure and key resources, the Coast Guard has invested heavily in cyber risk management efforts. These efforts focus on the Coast Guard Cyber Strategy’s three strategic priorities of: defending cyberspace, enabling operations, and protecting infrastructure. The Coast Guard has approached these priorities through various policies, guidelines, and other initiatives both internally and through collaborative efforts. In the second installment of our National Cybersecurity Awareness Month series, we discuss a few of the cyber-focused initiatives the Coast Guard is leading, either in effect or in development, that will help to continue fortifying our nation’s cyber protection and response posture.
Source: USCG
Link: 10/12/2018: National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – Fortifying the U.S. cyber protection and response posture