http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...st-guard_x.htm

The Coast Guard's ships, planes and helicopters are breaking down at record
rates, which may threaten the service's ability to carry out its post-9/11
mission of protecting ports and waterways against terrorism.

"This nation must understand the dire situation in which the Coast Guard
now finds itself," says Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, chairwoman of a Senate
Coast Guard subcommittee. She favors replacing the Coast Guard's "deepwater"
fleet - the ships and aircraft capable of operating far offshore - over 10
to 15 years.

The Bush administration wants to increase the amount of time it will take to
replace a fleet that's among the oldest on the globe - older even than
fleets owned by nations such as Algeria and Pakistan. The "deepwater"
replacement program, conceived in 1998 as a $20 billion, 20-year plan to
replace the fleet, could be increased to 25 years under a White House plan.
Adm. Thomas Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard, says he supports the
White House plan and has enough refurbished equipment to operate the fleet.
But this month, he told Congress his equipment is failing at unacceptable
rates:

.. In fiscal 2004, the engines on the Coast Guard's 95 HH-65 helicopters
suffered power losses at a rate of 329 per 100,000 flight hours, up from 63
per 100,000 flight hours in fiscal 2003. The comparable Federal Aviation
Administration standard is 1 per 100,000 flight hours.

.. There have been 23 hull breaches - holes that let in water - requiring
emergency dry-dock repairs in the 49 110- and 123-foot patrol boats since
2001.

.. Each of the dozen 378-foot cutters, most of which operate in the Pacific,
suffers a significant engine or hydraulic or refrigeration system breakdown
on every patrol.

.. For all major cutters and patrol boats, the number of unscheduled
maintenance days was 742 in fiscal 2004, up from 267 in fiscal 1999. The
loss of cutter days in fiscal 2004 equated to losing 10% of the major fleet
for an entire year.