Marine safety unit in Coram gets expanded authority to inspect vessels in Long Island waters

The Coast Guard said Friday it will give expanded authority to the team that oversees marine safety and environmental protection from New York City to Montauk.

Marine Safety Unit Coram — formerly a Marine Safety Detachment — inspects ports and hundreds of vessels from Long Island’s commercial fishing fleet. It also responds to environmental incidents like oil spills on the water.

The 21-person team’s re-designation from detachment to unit will enable more operations and better cooperation on Long Island with maritime companies and enforcement agencies, said commanding officer Lt. Pablo Ortiz, who led the detachment and now leads the unit.

Unlike the Coast Guard’s search and rescue units, "we tend to work behind the scenes," Ortiz said Friday after a ceremony in which he assumed unit command. By ensuring that mariners have and know how to use safety equipment, and operate vessels in good working order, the unit aims to prepare them "so that if things do hit the fan, they’re able to take care of themselves until our response units go out on the water to rescue them."

The Coram detachment — based not on the coast, but in a landlocked office that is roughly at the center of its area of operations — was one of 18 around the country chosen by Coast Guard leaders for re-designation as units. The units were chosen because of the complexity of their missions, distance from other Coast Guard units, and number of personnel, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Re-designation was also intended to increase professional development and promote retention for officers like Ortiz, a Miami native who graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2014. Ortiz’s previous assignments included stints as assistant chief at Marine Safety Unit Portland, Oregon, and deck watch officer aboard the USCGC Douglas Munro, a cutter in the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area.

This May, Marine Safety Detachment Coram worked with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to collect tar balls originating from a sunken World War II-era vessel, Ortiz said.

In 2022, the detachment monitored waters near Jones Inlet near Point Lookout for contamination after a vessel burst into flames.

In 2006, according to Coast Guard Magazine, the detachment deployed to the Shinnecock Inlet after a fishing vessel, Hail Mary II, capsized in rough, freezing waters carrying 30,000 pounds of squid and 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

After the fishermen were rescued, the detachment placed containment booms around the vessel and nearby environmentally sensitive areas. When the 72-foot vessel was removed, about a week after it had capsized, damage to the surrounding environment was found to be minimal.