Coast Guard captain takes command of units in Maryland, National Capitol Region

News Release

April 27, 2018 U.S. Coast Guard 5th District PA Detachment Baltimore Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Baltimore Office: (410) 576-2541 After Hours: (757) 202-3429 PA Detachment Baltimore online newsroom

Coast Guard captain takes command of units in Maryland, National Capitol Region

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BALTIMORE — Coast Guard Capt. Joseph B. Loring took charge as the new Sector Maryland-National Capital Region commander and captain of the port, during a change-of-command ceremony Friday in the Port of Baltimore at the Cruise Maryland Terminal.

Capt. Lonnie P. Harrison, Jr., the previous sector commander, retired after 27 years of service, during a following ceremony. Since his arrival in 2015, the sector was involved in the rescue of 380 lives, inspection of 3,300 commercial vessels and coordination of response to 670 oil sighting reports.

Loring arrived at the sector after a tour at Coast Guard Headquarters, where he served as the chief of Marine Environmental Response, leading a team responsible for the Coast Guard's policy on all domestic, international and inter-agency environmental response issues.

The commander of Sector Maryland-National Capitol Region leads operational forces in the execution and coordination of all maritime safety, security and environmental missions for the Maryland and National Capital Region. He also serves as the captain of the port, federal on scene coordinator, federal maritime security coordinator, officer in charge of marine inspections, and search and rescue mission coordinator.

Approximately 25 million tons of product from foreign commerce move through the port each year. In an average year, Sector Maryland-National Capitol Region conducts most of the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions, including more than 700 search and rescue missions, 750 law enforcement boardings, 100 marine casualty investigations and 75 merchant mariner investigations, saves 30 lives and assists 540 others in peril and distress, as well as thousands of other activities in protecting property, responding to oil and chemical spills, facilitating safe and efficient movement of waterway traffic, managing aids to navigation and securing the waterside of the nation’s capital. 

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