Announcing the Maritime Operations Coordination Plan

As part of Secretary Napolitano’s vision for One DHS, the Department today unveiled an cross-component Maritime Operations Coordination (MOC) plan to enhance the Department’s coordination capabilities when responding to threats against the United States.

The plan—which will strengthen coordination, planning, information sharing, and intelligence integration for maritime operations among the U.S. Coast Guard (UCSG), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—was jointly signed by, USCG Commandant Admiral Robert Papp, Jr., CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin, and ICE Director John Morton. Each of these DHS component agencies has unique responsibilities in preparing for and responding to a terrorist attack or other incident in or near U.S. waters, making effective coordination among these agencies essential.

The MOC plan focuses on improved collaboration across five key sectors:

•Coordination

•Planning

•Information sharing

•Intelligence integration

•Response activities

In addition, the plan outlines the need for a layered approach to security while underscoring the importance of working in tandem with federal, state, local, tribal, territorial and international partners.