Coast Guard commissions new marine safety unit at Fort Drum

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (WWTI) — Introducing the world’s newest Coast Guard unit.

The United States Coast Guard commissioned its newest unit, Marine Safety Unit Thousand Islands on Tuesday, April 23 on the Fort Drum Military Installation.

MSU Thousand Islands falls under the U.S. Coast Guard’s Ninth District, which covers the entire Great Lakes region.

Real Admiral Jon Hickey, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Ninth District delivered remarks at the commissioning ceremony.

“This milestone elevates the service’s operational capabilities and reinforces the enduring relationship between the US Coast Guard and the northern New York community, emphasizing our shared commitment to maritime excellence and stewardship,” Rear Admiral Hickey said.

The new unit will respond to safety and environmental threats across Northern New York. Missions include commercial vessel inspections, waterfront facility inspections, pollution response and marine casualty investigations.

MSU Thousand Islands was previously a detachment based out of Massena, New York. According to Lieutenant Commander Carrier Foster the unit’s commander, MSU Thousand Islands was commissioned to better serve the region’s needs

“We’ve seen advances in technology where ballast water treatment systems have been installed on vessels,” LTC Foster explained. “We’ve seen changes in operational policy. So our mission set has changed. Economic trends have. Brought tourism, small passenger vessels, pollution response here in the area.”

In collaboration with Fort Drum, the transition from Massena to the military base only took the unit six months to complete. MSU Thousand Islands continued to serve the area while the move was ongoing.

LTC Foster said that being on Fort Drum also centralizes the Coast Guard within its area of responsibility in the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River region. It also puts the unit close to its army counterparts on the installation.

“Some of our aviation assets are further away in Detroit,” LTC Foster said. “So we have a partnership here with the 10th Mountain Division and their aviation assets to support search and rescue for our crew here.”

As the ribbon was cut on the new unit, Coast Guard leaders shared their excitement.

“It puts us closer to the mission that we conduct,” Rear Admiral Hickey expressed. “It puts us closer to the maritime industry that we work with, and it puts us closer to the partners that we collaborate with every single day.”

Marine Safety Unit Thousand Islands is separate from the already-existing Coast Guard unit in Alexandria Bay.

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