Loose Lips Sink Captain Amid Security Concerns

A Coast Guard captain who commented to the press about a government security report has been reassigned to other duties pending an investigation of security concerns in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, officials said Thursday.

John Holmes, the highest-ranking Coast Guard official at the ports, was reassigned to the Marine Safety Staff office in San Pedro last week, said Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Carter.

Executive Officer George Cummings will take over Holmes’ duties until the investigation is completed.

As captain of the port, Holmes enforced Coast Guard regulations regarding marine environmental protection, search and rescue operations, and port safety and security. He directed all security operations at the ports, both on land and on vessels.

On May 14, Fox News aired a report that said 25 Islamic extremists had entered the United States as stowaways in cargo ships through ports in Miami, Savannah, Ga., and Long Beach. The information came from a security report read to Fox by unnamed sources in Washington.

In an online article in the Journal of Commerce, Holmes was quoted as saying that the Coast Guard was taking the report “very seriously.” He told the trade publication that evidence at the time did not warrant extraordinary security precautions known as Level 2 and Level 3 alerts.

Carter would not discuss why Holmes has been reassigned or what security concerns have been raised under Holmes’ watch, but said Coast Guard officials are never allowed to discuss the contents of classified government reports.

“It doesn’t matter who else has commented on it; if it’s still classified, we can’t discuss it,” Carter said. Carter would not comment on Holmes’ comments to the Journal of Commerce.

“I can’t speculate on the reasons for the reassignment,” Carter said. “It’s under investigation, and that’s all we can say.”

Representatives of several unions and maritime officials described Holmes as a popular figure at the ports, known for being responsive to their concerns, and said that he meets regularly with the longshoremen.

“John Holmes is one of the finest captains of the port we’ve ever seen,” said Manny Aschemeyer, executive director for the Marine Exchange and Vessel Traffic Center in the harbor area. “We’re all worried about this and hoping he will be reinstated.”

Stefan Mueller-Dombois, a union representative for tug and barge workers in the harbor area, has been working with Holmes on a tugboat safety study. Mueller-Dombois hopes Cummings will be able to take over where Holmes left off.

“It’s just that John Holmes is definitely a man of action,” Mueller-Dombois said. “If there was a problem, he was going to fix it. It’s a pretty complicated issue, so I hope they can pick up the pieces.”

Holmes is credited for helping to create the harbor area’s port security plan after Sept. 11.