ALAMEDA, Calif. — Fleet Week kicks off in the Bay Area with events open to the public Oct. 3-10, including the Parade of Ships arrival to the Port of San Francisco.
With the greater San Francisco Bay Area's largest military presence totaling more than 4,000 men and women, Coast Guard personnel and assets will participate and provide maritime security for the Fleet Week events. These Coast Guard personnel perform a variety of missions including search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, inspections, fisheries enforcement, aids to navigation, port security, anti-terrorism patrols, environmental protection and illegal drug and migrant interdiction.
A variety of ship tours, food trucks and static displays from all five branches of the Armed Services will be set up at the Pier 80 Village. The U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, the California Air National Guard's 129th Air Rescue Wing, and the Royal Canadian Navy are scheduled to participate in Fleet Week events along the San Francisco waterfront.
Other Coast Guard assets participating in this year’s Fleet Week events include Coast Guard Cutters Aspen, Pike, Tern, Sockeye, Hawksbill, and Dorado; Maritime Safety and Security Teams San Francisco, Los Angeles/Long Beach, and Seattle; and Small Boat Stations San Francisco, Rio Vista, Vallejo, Golden Gate, and Monterey.
The public can expect an increased presence of Coast Guard vessels in San Francisco Bay to ensure safety and security for mariners and the Parade of Ships. The Coast Guard Cutter Mellon, USS San Diego, USS Mobile Bay and the HMCS Calgary, make up the Parade of Ships that are scheduled to arrive at the Port of San Francisco Oct. 7.
The Coast Guard Captain of the Port San Francisco has enacted a special local regulation for this year's on-water Fleet Week activities held Oct. 6-9 to ensure the safety of participants and spectators on San Francisco Bay. Traffic will be restricted throughout most of the Central Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge, south of Alcatraz, to just south of the Bay Bridge. This is to accommodate the Parade of Ships as they pass under the Golden Gate Bridge to their assigned pier with the safe transit of the parade participants in any way. A 500-yard protective zone will also be enforced around each naval vessel the entire time they are in port.
From Oct. 8-10, the Blue Angels will participate in the air show from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For the awareness of mariners and the public, below are graphics of regulated areas for the Parade of Ships and the Blue Angels, respectively.
The best areas to observe the air shows and the Parade of Ships are north of the "Alpha" box for the parade and North of the "Bravo" box for the air show; east of Blossom Rock buoy; and from the shore.
For more information on this year's events, contact the San Francisco Fleet Week Association at (415) 306-0911, or visit http://www.fleetweek.org/ for a complete list of events.
*Editors note: Requests for interviews of Coast Guardsmen and embeds aboard Coast Guard vessels during Fleet Week should be directed to the 11th Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office at (510) 772-8865.