Coast Guard 911 System Riddled With Dead Zones

The Coast Guard’s 911 system has at least 88 coverage gaps where rescuers cannot hear or locate distressed boaters who radio for help, a government investigation found. The dead areas--sprinkled among 19 states and U.S. territories--range from Kodiak, Alaska, to Key West, Fla.

The 30-year-old National Distress and Response System, the Coast Guard’s primary short-range communications network, monitors the distress frequency--the maritime version of 911--and coordinates search-and-rescue missions.

The system includes about 300 antennas mounted on towers at high elevations. They are linked to 44 communication centers, where Coast Guard personnel monitor distress calls on inland waterways and along the coast.

Dead zones constitute a serious safety problem, said spokesman Jim McPherson. Boaters who can’t get through must rely on other means of communication, such as flares, mayday calls to other boaters, or emergency positioning systems that use satellites, he said.

The Coast Guard has been working on a plan to upgrade the emergency system, but the latest version has significant shortcomings, Transportation Department Inspector General Kenneth Mead said. It still leaves coverage gaps, though probably smaller than now.

In the current system, the 88 gaps total 24,725 square miles, or about 14% of the total coverage area. They range in size from 7 square miles to more than 1,840.

The Coast Guard maintains that the revised plan would result in important improvements, including reducing most search areas down to 5 to 10 square miles and eliminating most of the gaps.

Members of the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee who heard about the revised plan Thursday were skeptical. “Why would we buy a system that has coverage gaps?” asked Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the subcommittee.

The Coast Guard pegs the cost of the revised plan at $580 million.