Coast Guard command staff from the Coast Guard 13th District and Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound converse with Lynne Griffith, assistant secretary, Ferries Division, Washington State Department of Transportation, and Rob Ruthschiller, captain, Washington State Ferries on the bridge of the Washington State Ferries vessel Wenatchee during a vessel tour as it crossed the Puget Sound, Sept 1, 2016.
The 13th district is home to the nation’s largest ferry system and the Coast Guard conducts regular inspections and security patrols in accordance with federal regulations to ensure the safety of the 24 million annual passengers.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.
Rear Adm. Mark Butt, commander, Coast Guard 13th District, and Matt VonRuden, director of vessel maintenance and preservation, Washington State Department of Transportation, discuss shipboard fire fighting systems through carbon dioxide containers while on a tour of the Washington State Ferries vessel Wenatchee as it crossed the Puget Sound, Sept. 1, 2016.
CO2 systems are used to extinguish a fire by smothering it in a heavy blanket of the gas and are used for fire protection in machinery spaces, pump rooms, cargo holds, paint stores and galley exhaust ventilation ducts on board ships.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.
Coast Guard command staff from the Coast Guard 13th District and Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound converse in the Seattle Ferry Terminal, after a tour of the Washington State Ferries vessel Wenatchee, Sept. 1 2016.
One of the local Coast Guard responsibilities is to ensure the public’s safety through regulating and enforcing a 1,500-foot zone around all large passenger vessels in the Puget Sound.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.