Bay Area’s maritime traffic service went offline for hours as DHS shutdown continues

By CBS Bay Area

As the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security continues, so does the uncertainty of the future for Bay Area maritime workers. 

“They’re seeing workforce shortages now for the first time where folks are either unable to afford gas and come to work, which has been the case,” Scott Humphrey, the executive director of the Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region, told CBS News Bay Area. 

He is referring to the U.S. Coast Guard vessel traffic service (VTS) operators. 

“If something goes wrong on the bay, the VTS operators having gone through more than six months of training, and often the civilians that are most impacted by this shutdown are the most experienced operators,” he said. 

Humphrey communicates with the VTS and says 18 civilian operators have not been paid in over a month due to the government shutdown. 

The operators work 12-hour watches, making sure there are no collisions during the day and night. 

But on April 1, the VTS had to go offline for about 12 hours as there were not enough staff members for the overnight watch. 

This meant that the vessel traffic service continuity reporting protocol was in effect, in which vessels had to communicate with each other. 

“There’s a lot of money coming in and out in the economy with those ships; it’s a big industry. It’s definitely really important,” Jonathan Tin, a commercial fisherman, told CBS News Bay Area. 

He said communication with the operators is extremely important. 

“As long as we stay out of the shipping lanes, where we fish, there’s shipping lanes that come in and out of the bay. And we fish near them, so we can’t get in the shipping lanes otherwise, we lose a lot of gear,” Tin said. 

Humphrey adds that another problem is hiring when it’s needed the most. 

“Short six civilian employees. This shutdown prevents them from hiring. So, on top of the fact that their existing 18 civilians aren’t being paid, and there are active military people that are being paid, they’re unable to announce and hire these six civilian employees,” he said. 

Humphrey said one of VTS’ longest-serving employees has more than 30 years of experience. 

CBS News Bay Area reached out to the U.S. Coast Guard for comment and is still waiting to hear back