Special unit gets traffic rolling on the river

摘要

One of the many missions that the Coast Guard performs is waterway security, which includes keeping commerce moving. When the motor vessel Tintamara and the tugboat Mel Oliver collided in the Mississippi River near New Orleans July 23 it halted traffic. With large economic effects on the line, the Coast Guard called in a special unit-the Maritime Transportation System Recovery Unit (MTSRU). An MTSRU is established for every incident that significantly disrupts the maritime transportation system. It was created under a requirement that the National Maritime Transportation Security Plan include a system to restore cargo flow following a national transportation security incident. Lessons learned following disruption of maritime transportation during Hurricane Katrina played a role in its formation. The mission of the MTSRU is not new for the Coast Guard, just the formal creation of a specialized unit. "We've done it for years," said Cmdr. Wayne Clayborne, of the New Orleans MTSRU. "We do it. Let's take that practice and institutionalize it." "The MTSRU is brought in when there is more than three days of port closure," said Clayborne. The MTSRU is made up of members of the Coast Guard, local government and industry leaders. The government and industry leaders are instrumental in providing barge, ship and facility information to the Coast Guard.