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26 • MarineNews • August 2006 Communication said Abel. "It provides vital technology to increase the capabilities of our Coast Guard crews at a vital time when summer search and rescue pace increases and trop- ical storms or hurricanes put mariners and coastal residents at risk," he said. A $730m acquisition project and the second largest within the Coast Guard, Rescue 21 will replace the Coast Guard's aging National Distress and Response System, built during the 1970s. Once fully implemented, Rescue 21 will cover 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. By the Numbers • First life is saved using Rescue 21 system: November 2005 First Rescue 21 system commis- sioned Atlantic City, N.J., December 2005 Two Initial Operating Capacity regions ; Atlantic City, N.J., and Eastern Shore, (Maryland, Delaware and Virginia) accepted Rescue 21 in 2005 First Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) region accepted Rescue 21 in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, May 19, 2006 Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., the second of four LRIP regions, accepted the system June 29, 2006 Nationwide rollout to about 40 addi- tional regions is slated for completion by 2011. Dual Teleport Services CapRock announced its expanded ser- vice redundancy and business continuity solution. The Dual Teleport Configuration Services (DTC), now available on the North America Network, ensures continu- ity of communications by rerouting cus- tomer traffic to an alternate teleport in the event that the Houston facility or teleport is adversely affected. Services offered by the DTC program are designed to provide customers with significant backup communications until their primary services can be restored. The DTC service is an addition to CapRock's existing service redundancy capabilities and disaster recovery plan- ning. Network Operations Centers located in Houston and Aberdeen are each capa- ble of remotely operating the other and the teleports are also hardened to withstand severe weather, including strong winds. In addition to having dual terrestrial entry, the Houston facility also hosts an onsite generator and enough fuel to operate inde- pendently for up to one week. CapRock sets up dual satellite earth sta- tions at an alternate location, pre-stages equipment that is in hot-standby mode and initiates duplicate connections to the public telephone network and public Internet access. The comprehensive plan- ning, staging, and testing of equipment ensures communications will be main- tained during predictable events, such as hurricanes, for customers who enroll in DTC. Customers will also have priority restoration for those which cannot be pre- dicted. The DTC program is an extension to CapRock's disaster recovery program, which was expanded this year to include Broadband DR-VSATand Private Line DR-VSAT. The DR series packages are designed for emergency response teams or organizations with critical operations needing mobile communications in disas- ter affected areas when traditional means are unavailable. Emergency voice, inter- net, and corporate data access is provided through a completely self-contained unit that includes ruggedized satellite equip- ment, telephones, fax machines and an optional on-board generator. New On-line Chart Viewer NOAA surveys and charts U.S. waters, producing 1,000 traditional nautical charts, cover 3.4 million sq. nautical miles. Carriage of NOAA charts is mandatory on commercial ships. They are used on every Navy and Coast Guard ship, fishing and passenger vessels. On July 4, NOAA introduced a new public service called the On-Line Chart Viewer. The viewer lets mariners display any nautical chart in the national suite using only an internet browser. Each chart is updated weekly for Notice to Mariner corrections by software permits rapid chart display, panning and zooming. The On-Line Viewer can be used for voyage planning and research. Profes- sional mariners can examine intended routes for recent changes. The On-Line Chart Viewer is available for free from NOAA at www.NauticalCharts.gov/view- er. Beier Radio Earns Certification Beier Radio announced that the compa- ny has received accreditation from the prestigious The Nautical Institute for its Dynamic Positioning Training Course. The dynamic positioning classes are held at the state-of-the-art Beier IVCS 2000 training facility at Beier Radio cor- porate headquarters in Belle Chasse, La. The program uses fully computerized Automated Fuel Valve Fire Proofing ABS Approved SOLAS Compliant Enables Operation Of MOV Enveloped In Fire Custom Manufactured Per Application User Friendly Removable/Reusable www.insulationsei.com • sei@insulationsei.com (800) 289-7341 Rescue 21 system AUGUST MN2006 4(25-32).qxd 8/3/2006 3:38 PM Page 26
