re: Coast Guard having issues

Mariners are required to monitor VHF channels 16 for emergencies and 23 for vessel to vessel navigation, and for the most part they do. However, most vessels use UHF radios for 95% of their communication, mostly intracompany. UHF is through repeaters mounted on high structures, bridges, buildings etc.. That communication is highly vulnerable to a network problems.

If UHF goes out that pushes a lot of radio traffic to VHF, try listening to VHF on a normal day, it's damn busy. I hope the cell phones worked.