Essential to homeland security is the mission to enhance maritime border security while maximizing the flow of legitimate trade and travel on the sea, ocean, and other navigable waterways. Navigable waterways include the Great Lakes and all inland waterways subject to federal jurisdiction, such as the Mississippi River, the Intra-coastal Waterway, and other inter-state lakes and rivers.
To fulfill this mission, the U.S. Coast Guard:
- Monitors U.S. flag vessels, including commercial boats and foreign vessels operating in U.S. waters;
- Responds to and investigates maritime incidents, search and rescue, casualties, and boating accidents; and
- Addresses issues like boating safety, fishing regulation, oil spills, migrant interdiction, drug smuggling, and pollution.
The U.S. Coast Guard reports on:
- Fishing regulation compliance rates;
- Migrant interdiction effectiveness;
- Removal rate of cocaine from non-commercial vessels in the maritime transit zone;
- Number of serious marine incidents;
- Average number of oil spills; and
- Average number of deaths at sea.
Office of Homeland Security Statistics Resources
In 2024, the Office of Homeland Security Statistics will begin reporting on maritime response operations. Later this year, we will release a report on response operations by the U.S. Coast Guard. The report will include data such as:
- Search and rescue cases
- Pollution incidents
- Fisheries incursions
- Drug interdictions
- Migrant interdictions
Other Resources
The following resources are not Office of Homeland Security Statistics products and may adhere to different data and reporting review processes.
United States Coast Guard
- Maritime Information Exchange — USCG maintains a public database with the following data.
- Vessel specific information
- Information on maritime incidents
- Equipment approved and certified by USCG
- USCG-approved laboratories for equipment and material testing
- Listing of vessels, ports, and terminals meeting international pollution prevention requirements
- List of USCG-accepted life raft servicing facilities
- National Response Center — USCG publishes pollution report incident data.
- Marine Casualty and Pollution Data for Researchers — USCG publishes files with details about marine casualty and pollution incidents investigated by USCG offices throughout the United States.
- Marine Casualty Reports — USCG publishes reports on their findings of fact, results of analysis, conclusions, and recommendations of the Coast Guard's investigation of marine casualties, outer continental shelf (OCS) casualties, and commercial diving casualties.
- Merchant Vessels of the United States — USCG publishes a list of commercial and recreational vessels documented by the USCG under the laws of the United States.
- Accident Statistics — USCG compiles annual statistics from all 50 states and the District of Columbia on reported recreational boating accidents.
- National Life Jacket Wear Rate Observational Study — USCG publishes annual reports with trends and indicators on recreational boater life jacket use.
U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration
- Maritime Administration Data Statistics — includes listing of privately and commercially registered U.S. vessels as well as foreign trade to maritime ports.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center — provides information on vessels, tonnage, commodity, origin, and destination from vessel operating companies to assist USACE on determining project priorities.
