Boating: How to Boat: Safety: Notice to Mariners

The district includes 1,200 miles of coastline and 10,3000 miles of inland navigable waterways. In a typical year, the men and women of the Eighth Coast Guard District prosecute more than 6,300 search and rescue cases ---saving 770 lives, assisting 7,900 mariners and saving $37.5 million in property. The district maintains 24,000 aids-to-navigation, responds to more than 4,200 marine environmental pollution incidents and conducts more than 1, 5000 law-enforcement boarding.

The ports of New Orleans and Houston, located in the Eighth District are two of the busiest shipping ports in the nation, with more than 2 million barrels of oil and 1 million tons of cargo imported daily. Seventeen of the top 40 busiest ports by tonnage are located in the Eighth District.

There are more than 6, 500 oil and gas-producing wells, along with 130 offshore rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that keep the district's Marine Safety program gainfully employed. These rigs and platforms produce more than 324 million barrels of crude oil and 4. 5 billion cubic feet of natural gas yearly. Five of the top seven fishing ports in the country based on sales, are located in the district, They account for nearly 40 percent of the catch of U.S. commercial fishermen.

There are approximately 5, 558 active duty and selected reserve members geographically located in the district, 3,956 of whom are assigned to Eighth District units. There are also 6,000 auxiliarists and 249 civilian personnel geographically located within the district.

The Eighth Coast Guard District consist of one base, seven groups, three are stations, 12 marine safety offices and 18 marine safety detachments/satellite units. Additionally, there are 14 multi-mission stations, 14 aids-to-navigation teams, two vessel traffic services and five LORAN stations. The district is also home to 54 afloat units, including: nine 82-foot patrol boats, four 110-foot patrol boats, 19 river tenders, two 180-foot buoy tenders, two 133-foot river tenders, seven construction tenders, ten 55-foot Aids to Navigation boats and one 64-foot self propelled barge. There are three Coast Guard Auxiliary regions in the district's area of responsibility.

There has been a Coast Guard presence in the Gulf of Mexico and Midwestern regions for nearly two centuries. In the Gulf area, the Coast Guard's history ranges from, the Revenue Marine Service Cutter LOUISIANA driving the British away from the Mississippi River levee area during the War of 1812, to the Coast Guard patrolling the Gulf for German U-Boats during World War II. In the Midwest, Coast Guard history includes establishing aids to navigation in the early 1900s, as well as marine safety missions and flood response. This Midwestern region, formerly known as the Second Coast Guard District, merged with the Eighth Coast Guard District in May 1996, creating the present extensive Eighth Coast Guard District boundaries.

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