CLEVELAND – The Ninth Coast Guard District announced Thursday a boundary realignment involving three of its subordinate sectors that serve the Great Lakes, in order to better balance span of control and provide better service to members of the maritime industry.
Specifically, the Ninth District has determined that crews would be in the best position to serve the public if Coast Guard Station Charlevoix, Mich., and Coast Guard Station Alpena, Mich. – previously falling under the command of Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan in Milwaukee and Coast Guard Sector Detroit, respectively – would fall under the jurisdiction of Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie, Mich.
This sector boundary realignment takes effect Friday morning. It impacts the geographic boundaries of three of the four sectors that make up the Ninth District; Coast Guard Sector Buffalo’s area of responsibility will remain unchanged.
This boundary shift represents an opportunity to provide better customer service to the maritime industry. For instance, previously, operators of commercial vessels and marine facilities in northern Michigan that required Coast Guard inspections were serviced by marine inspectors from areas as far away as Detroit, Milwaukee or Grand Haven, Mich. Following the boundary realignment, inspections can be conducted by personnel from Sault Sainte Marie, which allows for greater efficiency, resulting in a quicker turnaround for those vessels and facilities.
Stations Charlevoix and Alpena would continue to operate within the same areas of responsibility as they have for many years; they would just fall under the operational and administrative control of a different sector command.
Coast Guardsmen from Station Charlevoix have protected citizens in Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan for more than 100 years. Station Alpena was established in 1988 and, unlike Station Charlevoix’s primarily active-duty crew, it operates with a complement of active-duty, reserve and Auxiliary during the summer search and rescue season.
