GAO urges Coast Guard to strengthen marine firefighting coordination
Coast Guard must assign field coordinators, expand training and share information; Congress urged to require alternative-fuel vessels to file response plans, per GAO report.
The Government Accountability Office issued a report reviewing the U.S. Coast Guard's role in marine firefighting and issued five recommendations for the service. The recommendations call for designating specific field positions to lead coordination, expanding hands-on vessel training for land-based fire departments, creating a mechanism to store and share firefighting information, and issuing guidance on activating vessel response plans.
GAO analysis of Coast Guard data for 2015 through 2025 identified 886 nearshore marine fires. Of those incidents, 206 resulted in a death, injury, damage exceeding $200,000, or a total loss of the vessel. A 2023 fire on a marine vessel claimed the lives of two firefighters, underscoring the hazards faced by responders.
The Coast Guard has taken steps, including establishing a task force after the 2023 fatalities, but gaps remain. The agency does not consistently assign local coordinators, provides limited hands-on training on vessels, and lacks a formal information-sharing system. Legal constraints also prevent the Coast Guard from requiring non-tank vessels that use alternative fuels, such as lithium-ion battery-powered ferries, to develop vessel response plans for hazardous substance discharges.
The report notes that the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 directs GAO to review the Coast Guard's marine firefighting efforts. It recommends that Congress amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require owners and operators of alternative-fuel, non-tank vessels to prepare vessel response plans for worst-case hazardous substance discharges.
The Coast Guard has indicated agreement with all five GAO recommendations, though implementation actions remain pending.
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