11.20.25

USCG Cape Disappointment’s Heavy Surf Rescue Boats Will Get New Docks, Acting Commandant Assures Cantwell

In March, Cantwell helped deliver 30% more funding for new 52-foot rescue boat replacement lifeboats at Ilwaco and Grays Harbor as part of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act; Cantwell visited Cape Disappointment with the former commandant in 2022 & discussed needed facility & infrastructure updates

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, secured a commitment from U.S. Coast Guard Acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday to support the construction of new docks that can support the station’s critical heavy surf fleet of rescue boats, and the new replacement fleet for the 52-foot rescue boats at the Coast Guard’s Station Cape Disappointment in Southwest Washington.

“The Cape Disappointment [base is] critical to our…important strategy for the region, but also for the motor lifeboat school, which is really very impressive,” Sen. Cantwell said to Adm. Lunday during a committee hearing on Wednesday. “We need a solution to new docks that accommodate replacement of 52s, and a cutting-edge facility to support the workforce and training and to help with critical infrastructure like protecting the rescue capacity at Ilwaco by doing dredging. So will you commit to those objectives?”

Adm. Lunday responded: “Ranking Member Cantwell, I will. You know the Coast Guard boat drivers are the best in the world, including there at Cape Disappointment where we train them. It's critically important. The Coast Guard is going to expend $110 million from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to address the dredging issue that you described at Ilwaco. Rather than the continual dredging challenges, we spoke about a more permanent solution and so we're going to work for our design that will be able to do that effectively.”

Video of their full exchange in the committee hearing yesterday is HERE; a transcript is HERE.

In September 2022, Sen. Cantwell joined former USCG Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan for a tour of the Coast Guard facilities at Cape Disappointment. During the tour, they heard from servicemembers that the station needs more resources – for rescue boat infrastructure, as well as housing and training facilities. The Coast Guard is working on potential permanent solutions to persistent shoaling issues impacting the station at Cape Disappointment and the National Motor Lifeboat School. Currently the Coast Guard maintains waterways with dredging, which is only a temporary fix. Adm. Lunday’s commitment to work on a longer-term solution, such as potential break walls and other infrastructure fixes, is a step forward in protecting the critical work of Station Cape Disappointment and training facilities there.

In September 2024, Sen. Cantwell convened a roundtable discussion at the Port of Ilwaco with local officials and stakeholders on economic development projects for the region, including opportunities for federal investments to help rebuild the commercial fishing dock that suffered catastrophic damages in a tragic fire earlier that year. Following the roundtable, Sen. Cantwell joined local business leader and one of Washington’s representatives on the Pacific Fishery Management Council Butch Smith, U.S. Coast Guard officials, and other participants for a boat tour of the Ilwaco waterfront. During the boat tour, Sen. Cantwell saw U.S. Coast Guard Station Disappointment, where the future fleet of heavy-weather lifeboats will be homeported to support search and rescue missions, which is critical to safety of people working in the fishing and maritime sector in Pacific and Grays Harbor counties.

In March, Sen. Cantwell helped secure the passage of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2025. Among many important provisions, the legislation included historic protections for service members from sexual assault and harassment, boosted workforce development programs and availability of affordable housing, increased funding to help the U.S. Coast Guard deliver on critical priorities such as icebreakers and securing replacements for the old 52-foot heavy-weather lifeboats, raised penalties for abandoned and derelict vessels, and encouraged more collaboration with tribes. The legislation authorized $14.93 billion for FY25 and $15.51 billion for FY26. The full bill text of the bipartisan U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 is available HERE.