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UCT ONE Inspects ATFP Port Security Barriers
in Souda Bay, Crete, Greece
BU1 (SCW/DV) Christopher Kelly
USS COLE Memorial,
Naval Station
Norfolk, VA - “At 1118 on the
morning of October 12, 2000,
as USS COLE (DDG 67) was
refueling in Aden Harbor, Yemen,
suicide bombers detonated
an explosive-laden boat
directly against the port side
of the ship. The resulting blast
killed 17 Sailors, wounded 37
others, and tore a hole 40 by 60
feet in the ship’s hull. In the
aftermath of the explosion, the
crew of the USS COLE fought
tirelessly to free shipmates
trapped by the twisted wreckage
and limit flooding that
threatened to sink their ship.”
As outlined the House
Armed Services Committee
report “The Investigation into
the Attack on The USS Cole”
published in May, 2001, this tragic event
provided a new level of awareness when
considering anti-terrorism force protection
(ATFP) measures against waterborne
terrorist threats. U.S. Naval vessels
are especially vulnerable to such
attacks during resupply and refueling operations.
An important force protection
measure to ensure unauthorized vessels
maintain appropriate stand-off distances
is an ATFP Port Security Barrier (PSB),
floating fences held in place by fleet
mooring buoys designed to shield vessels
from waterborne attacks while in port.
In June of 2015, Construction Dive
Detachment CHARLIE (CDD/C) of
Underwater Construction Team ONE
(UCT ONE) carried out an inspection of
an ATFP PSB located on Naval Support
Activity (NSA) Souda Bay on the Greek
island of Crete. NSA Souda Bay houses a
Naval Fueling Station, in addition to other
facilities and services that keep the Fleet
combat ready. Twelve foot drum buoys,
Builder First Class Carlos Hernandez attached to Underwater
Construction Team ONE (UCT ONE) measures
a chain beneath a fleet mooring system in
Souda Bay, Crete. Photo by EO1 Joey Rodriguez.
secured with 2 inch chains and 15 ton anchors,
hundreds of feet below the surface
require periodic inspections to ensure
they remain up to the task of protecting
U.S. and Allied forces. With a dramatic
coastline as the backdrop, divers move
to the water’s edge ready to go to work.
Ten divers conducted 60 dives at
depths reaching 120 feet of sea water
(fsw), totaling 1500 minutes of bottom
time in order to complete the inspection.
Use of the MK20 full face mask
in SCUBA mode with through-watercommunications
allowed divers to report
measurements, discrepancies, and areas
of concern in real time. As a result, dives
were more effective and data was collected
more efficiently than that which
divers would have been able to collect in
traditional SCUBA rigs. “We used nonpositive
pressure regulators in the masks
that supplied air on demand instead of
at a constant flow”, Steelworker Second
Class Billy Peacey said of the rig CDD/C
used on the mission. “This conserved our
air which maximized our bottom
times allowing us to get
more done during each dive.”
Typically, MK20 uses a positive
pressure regulator which
tends to free flow through the
mask’s seal increasing air consumption.
Divers descended
upon their targets, cleaned
marine growth, then measured
components of the PSB using
specialized tools, calipers, and
rulers, all while digitally documenting
underwater cameras.
Typical inspections begin
at the anchor, move along the
ground leg chains to sinkers
and continue up to a ground
ring where they connect to a
riser chain up to the buoy. The
most dangerous point of any
fleet mooring inspection is
the thrash zone, an area where
chains rise and fall on the sea floor as the
buoy moves with the sea state, generally
causing significant wear and requiring
the most attention. Movement can
be as gradual as the tidal change or as
severe as the weather conditions, along
with inherent dangers associated with
diving operations when collecting data
in the thrash zone. Divers must remain
ultra-alert to avoid the added hazards.
When anchor legs descend to depths
beyond the reach of divers, Builder First
Class Carlos Hernandez, Project Supervisor,
deployed the Vectored Little Benthic
Vehicle (VLBV) Remote Operated
Vehicle (ROV). This robot facilitated
a level one inspection with its mounted
underwater camera, on-screen depth
gauge and compass all controlled topside
by the CDD/C ROV Team. A level one
inspection is a swim-by, visual inspection
of target components. “We were
lucky to have the ROV on the side. It
extended our reach allowing us to get
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