Coast Guard participates in Parade of Ships, helps to ensure safety

[The Patriot]

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Coast Guard participated in and helped to enforce a safety zone Friday during the Parade of Ships in support of San Francisco's Fleet Week 2016.

Coast Guardsmen aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Melon, a high-endurance cutter homeported in Seattle, Wash., participated in the Parade of Ships, while crews from various 87-foot Patrol Boats, small boat stations and Maritime Safety and Security Teams helped alongside the Coast Guard Auxiliary and partner agencies to ensure the safety and security of the fleet week participants and spectators.

Two MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco also participated in Friday's air show, where they demonstrated their search and rescue capabilities by deploying a rescue swimmer from the helicopter. Rescue swimmers are trained to be able to assist mariners in distress and have the capability to provide first aid to those in need of medical evacuations on the water.

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port San Francisco has enacted a special local regulation for this year's on-water Fleet Week activities held Oct. 6-9 to ensure the safety of participants and spectators on San Francisco Bay. Traffic will be restricted throughout most of the Central Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge, south of Alcatraz, to just south of the Bay Bridge. This is to accommodate the Parade of Ships as they pass under the Golden Gate Bridge to their assigned pier with the safe transit of the parade participants in any way. A 500-yard protective zone will also be enforced around each naval vessel the entire time they are in port.

The Blue Angels are scheduled to participate in air shows throughout the weekend from 11:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. For the awareness of mariners and the public, a graphic of the safety zone for the Blue Angels is shown below.

For more information on this year's events, contact the San Francisco Fleet Week Association at (415) 306-0911, or visit http://www.fleetweek.org/ for a complete list of events.




More...