Snowe Disappointed By Coast Guard's Deepwater Implementation Plan

SNOWE DISAPPOINTED BY COAST GUARD'S DEEPWATER IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Senator Believes a 20-25 Year Timeline and Amount of Required Assets is Inadequate, Urges Acceleration to 10 Years and Increase in Number of Ships Built

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) believes that in order to successfully carry out its traditional and new post-9/11 homeland security missions, the Coast Guard must speed up the timeline for the Deepwater Program and increase the number of ships it plans to build. The Coast Guard announced in its recently released report "Revised Deepwater Implementation Plan" that it will place the Deepwater Program on a 20-25 year timeline and that it may decrease the number of new ships it plans to build in the future.

"In a post September 11th world, I cannot understand how the Coast Guard can put the Deepwater Program on a 20-25 year timeline and potentially decrease the amount of cutters built. The fact is that we need to build more ships and reduce the amount of time needed to get the Deepwater program up and running. I am not sure how the Coast Guard believes it can fulfill its missions without the necessary resources to get the job done - a job that is essential as a first line of defense to protect the security of our nation," said Snowe.

The original Deepwater plan called for 8 National Security Cutters (425 ft), while the revised plan now calls for 6 to 8. The original plan also called for 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (350 ft); the revised plan calls for the same number. Additionally, the original plan called for 58 Fast Response Cutters (147 ft); the revised plan calls for 43-58.

"This new version of the Deepwater Plan will harm the Coast Guard's ability to meet the challenges it faces now and in the future," said Snowe. By not increasing, and in some instances decreasing, the number of ships the Coast Guard plans to acquire through the Deepwater Program, the service will continue to be stretched far too thin."

The Revised Deepwater Implementation Plan's purpose was to analyze the original pre-9/11 plan and to make recommendations that would allow the service to meet its post-9/11 mission requirements.

Snowe is working to give the Coast Guard the needed flexibility for its multi-mission profile and increase homeland security through its Integrated Deepwater System. New cutters and aircraft built by the Deepwater program will allow the Coast Guard to conduct its traditional missions as well as better implement its increased security responsibilities that require the Coast Guard to patrol farther out to sea to meet potential terrorist threats.

"If we move forward with this timeline as recommended in the Revised Deepwater Implementation Plan, the Coast Guard will have to continue to spend millions of dollars for maintenance and repairs from funds that instead could be dedicated to the acceleration of the Deepwater program," continued Snowe.

Asset degradation continues to haunt the service. The Coast Guard's 110-foot patrol boat fleet in the past year has experienced 23 hull breaches requiring emergency drydock. Additionally, the 378 foot fleet experiences a main space casualty each patrol. The resultant total of unexpected maintenance days for the medium and high endurance fleets has skyrocketed and endured a 400 percent increase from 1999. This averages out to two lost cutters per year.

Since September 11th, the Coast Guard has stepped up to fulfill its role in the service's largest peacetime port security operation since World War II, in addition to its efforts in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where it deployed 11 cutters and more than 1,200 personnel to a combat zone for the first time since Vietnam.

Last year alone, the Coast Guard responded to more than 32,000 calls for assistance and saved nearly 5,500 lives. The Coast Guard prevented 376,000 pounds of marijuana and cocaine from crossing into the United States. It also stopped more than 11,000 illegal migrants from crossing into the United States, conducted more than 4,500 boardings to protect our vital fisheries stocks, and responded to more than 24,000 pollution incidents. The Coast Guard also conducted more than 36,000 port security patrols, conducted 19,000 security boardings, escorted more than 7,200 vessels, and maintained more than 115 security zones.

This new plan has an estimated cost of $19-$24 billion over 20-25 years.

http://snowe.senate.gov/news.htm