Marine Science Affairs 



Navigation and Safety Aids 



The Coast Guard has primary responsibility for safety of shipping — a 

 requisite to efficient and effective operation of the total maritime transport 

 system. The safety problem is underscored by the fact that in 1966, United 

 States registered vessels operating throughout the world and foreign vessels 

 operating in United States waters suffered more than 2400 collisions and 

 other serious casualties. 



Accurate all-weather navigation is necessary for shipping to avoid colli- 

 sions with rocks, other vessels, and fixed structures, and is also a prerequisite 

 to rational ship routing to avoid adverse weather and operate most economi- 

 cally. New technology is making a major contribution to this function (see 

 Figure VI.2). 



Long-Range Navigation (LORAN-A and C) stations, by which a ship 

 may determine its position in the open sea more accurately than before, now 

 service the major shipping lanes. As a result of recent Navy declassification 

 and reductions in costs of commercial receivers, the TRANSIT satellite navi- 

 gation system (with a precision of about one-tenth of a mile) holds further 

 promise for ocean safety. This position-fixing equipment is independent of 

 the vagaries of electrical atmospheric or cloud interference. 



The Coast Guard is also modernizing and automating navigation aids 

 such as lighthouses through the use of remote telemetry systems. 



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COAST GUARD 





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Figure VI.2. The mainstays of the Coast Guard, its patrol ships, illustrate operational 

 innovations in maritime science and technology. The U.S.C.G. HAMILTON, 

 for example, employs two turbine engines which enable it to attain speeds in excess 

 of 20 knots. {U.S. Coast Guard photograph.) 



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