page_title: Missions of the United States Coast Guard
section_title: Foreign vessel examinations
hierarchical_section_title: Missions of the United States Coast Guard / Protection of natural resources / Foreign vessel examinations
caption_attribution_description: English: BALTIMORE - Petty Officer 3rd Class Chelsea Warren, a marine science technician in the Port Safety and Security division of Coast Guard Sector Baltimore, watches for trucks entering the Maryland Port Administration's Seagirt Marine Terminal during a multi-agency strike force operation, Oct. 27, 2010. This joint operation involved the inspection of trucks as they entered and left the marine terminals with shipments from both domestic and international locations. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandyn Hill.
context_page_description: The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces[6] and one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are:
  Maritime safety
  Maritime security
  Maritime stewardship
  The eleven statutory missions as defined by law are divided into homeland security missions and non-homeland security missions. Non-homeland security missions include: Marine safety, search and rescue, aids to navigation, living marine resources, marine environmental protection, and ice operations Homeland security missions include: Ports, waterways, and coastal security; drug interdiction; migrant interdiction; defense readiness; and other law enforcement.
  A given unit within the Coast Guard may be carrying out several missions at once. For example, a 25-foot RHIB assigned to maritime security may also watch for out-of-place or missing aids to navigation, pollution, and unsafe boating practices.
context_section_description: According to Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations, vessels entering American waters must provide in advance to the Coast Guard data about the ship's cargo, the names and passport numbers of each crew member, details about the ship's ownership and agents, and a list of recent port calls in a "Notice of Arrival" form.  This information is collated in the National Vessel Movement Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and shared with U.S. Naval Intelligence in Suitland, Maryland as well as with the Port State Control (PSC) offices in major ports throughout the United States.  From there, the Captain of the Port or his representatives in the PSC determines if the vessel involved needs a security exam, a safety exam, or both. Vessels must be examined every 6 months.
  In September 2002, Coast Guard Port State Control Examiners searched a container ship in New Jersey based on intelligence information and because the inspectors detected radiation in the vessel.  The cargo turned out to be ceramic tiles.
  See also: Port State Control
caption: Coast Guard leads multi-agency port inspections
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "BALTIMORE - Petty Officer 3rd Class Chelsea Warren, a marine science technician in the Port Safety and Security division of Coast Guard Sector Baltimore, watches for trucks entering the Seagirt Marine Terminal during a Multi-Agency Strike Force Operation, Oct. 27, 2010. This joint operation involved the inspection of trucks as they entered and left the marine terminals with shipments from both domestic and international locations. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandyn Hill.", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D700", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2010:10:27 15:20:22", "Image Artist": "PA2 Brandyn Hill", "Image WhitePoint": "[313/1000, 329/1000]", "Image PrimaryChromaticities": "[16/25, 33/100, 21/100, 71/100, 3/20, 3/50]", "Image YCbCrCoefficients": "[299/1000, 587/1000, 57/500]", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "Coast Guard Sector Baltimore; port; MASFO; shipping Inspections, Multi Agency Strike Force Operation; CBP; Customs and Boarder Protection; TWIC; Transportation Worker Identification Credential; U.S. Department of Transportation; Seagirt Marine Terminal,", "Image ExifOffset": "1172", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1792", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1906", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4555", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/4000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:10:27 09:50:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:10:27 09:50:17", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "1", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF SubSecTime": "41", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "41", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "41", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4101", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1845", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R03", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1760", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "24", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Gamma": "11/5"}