Marine Safety Unit Cleveland
Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit (MSU) Cleveland is the Coast Guard operational command that provides marine safety, security, and environmental protection oversight, compliance, and enforcement in northeast Ohio on Lake Erie and its tributaries. MSU Cleveland's area of responsibility spans from the Ohio/Pennsylvania border to Vermillion, OH, and includes the Port of Cleveland, as well as the economically crucial Cuyahoga River.
To accomplish these important tasks, active duty, reserve, civilian, and auxiliary personnel perform a myriad of prevention and response-related missions to ensure safety, security, and economic vitality of the mixed-use federal waterway. MSU Cleveland is responsible for ensuring both commercial and recreational maritime users abide by applicable international conventions, statutory laws, and regulations. On any day, the crew may perform: (1) marine inspections on vessels and maritime transportation-related facilities; (2) marine investigations; (3) container inspections; (4) waterways management; (5) oil and hazardous materials spill response and planning; (6) port security; and (7) contingency planning.
Leveraging teamwork and complementary authorities, MSU Cleveland partners with other federal agencies including, but not limited to, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 5); U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the United States Secret Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Further, MSU Cleveland partners with agencies within the state of Ohio, such as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, as well as many other county and local entities.
As of 2005, MSU Cleveland is a subordinate command of Coast Guard Sector Buffalo. The Commanding Officer of MSU Cleveland reports to Commander, Sector Buffalo who retains Coast Guard authorities to include: (1) Captain of the Port; (2) Federal On-Scene Coordinator; (3) Federal Maritime Security Coordinator; (4) Officer in Charge, Marine Inspections; and (5) Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator.
Unit Information Sheet