Media Advisory: Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound to hold Change of Command ceremony

News Release

March 09, 2017 U.S. Coast Guard 13th District Pacific Northwest Contact: 13th District Public Affairs Office: (206) 220-7237 After Hours: (206) 220-7237

Media Advisory: Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound to hold Change of Command ceremony

 

SEATTLE -- Members of the media are invited to attend the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound Change of Command ceremony at Base Seattle, 1 p.m., Friday. 

Capt. Linda Sturgis will relieve Capt. Joe Raymond as commander of the Sector, and Raymond’s next assignment will be at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., as the executive assistant to the vice commandant of the Coast Guard.

Rear Adm. Mark Butt, commander, Coast Guard 13th District, will preside during the ceremony.

During Raymond’s command between 2014 and 2017, Sector Puget Sound …

• Conducted 1,325 search and rescue cases, saving 174 lives, assisting 4,879 and preserving $45.5 million in property.
• Ensured safe transit of more than 640,000 vessels
• Managed $3.1 million of federal project funds, mitigating the potential spillage of 3.9 million gallons of oil into Puget Sound.
• Ensured cyber security was incorporated to test operations in an area that receives 17 million passengers and a billion tons of freight per year.
• Addressed safety & security standards with Transport Canada for LNG fueled vessels using the shared Pacific Northwest waters.
• Performed 1,000 Shiprider patrols in partnership with Royal Canadian Mounted Police along the Canadian border resulting in boarding 500 vessels and the interdiction of 24 kilos of MDMA worth $3.8 million and multiple arrests.
  
  

“Sector Puget Sound personnel have made significant strides in making Puget Sound one of the safest large ports in the nation, decreasing marine casualties, reducing oil spilled to historically low levels, and on average our VTS prevented two collisions, allisions, and groundings per month,” said Capt. Joe Raymond, commander, Sector Puget Sound. “Additionally, Sector Puget Sound worked closely and cooperatively with numerous Canadian agencies to ensure our shared 125-mile maritime border was safe and secure while protecting our environment and operating the only cooperative Vessel Traffic Service center in the world, and updating and exercising our shared oil spill response plan.” 

WHO: Coast Guard 13th District and Sector Puget Sound personnel

WHAT: Sector Puget Sound Change of Command ceremony

WHEN: Friday, March 10, 2017 at 1 p.m.

WHERE: Base Seattle gymnasium 1519 Alaskan Way S, Seattle, WA 98134

 

All media who wish to attend the ceremony will need to RSVP with Petty Officer 2nd Class Ali Flockerzi at 206-220-7237 no later than 11 a.m., Friday, and arrive to the ceremony no later than 12:45 p.m.

 

 

-USCG-