Coast Guard Changing Phone Number: New Number For Emergencies, Station Business

CHATHAM – For many decades, people reached Coast Guard Station Chatham by dialing a local phone number, but in a bid to cut costs and upgrade technology, that familiar number is being changed.

 Effective immediately, the public can reach the Coast Guard by calling 206-815-7158. On Sept. 1, the old number, 508-945-0164, will be retired. 

 “Yes, it’s a Seattle-based area code but it does ring to our station,” station commanding officer Senior Chief Ross Comstock said. “The user will receive an automated phone tree providing an option to press one for emergencies which will forward their call to our Command Center in Woods Hole — essentially our dispatch center — or two for non-emergencies which will forward them to our Officer of the Day, typically on site here at the station.”

The change is part of a national initiative by the Coast Guard’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, and Intelligence Service Center, known as C5ISC. Under the plan, all Coast Guard phone numbers will have area codes 206, 866 or 833, regardless of the unit's location. The service is moving to a new telephone system known as DIPS, for the Department of Defense Integrated Phone Service, which is integrated with Microsoft Teams.

The new system “is supposed to be better quality, more reliable and less expensive,” Comstock said.

Select board member Stuart Smith, the former harbormaster, said the change is consistent with a gradual change that encourages emergency calls to be answered by watchstanders at Sector Southeastern New England in Woods Hole rather than by Station Chatham’s watch room. In the past, that has created concerns when staff in Woods Hole were unfamiliar with Lower Cape landmarks and shoals. 

 “It was very foreign to them, and still is,” Smith said. “They’re trying to consolidate their command structure,” he said, noting that most local mariners prefer for calls to be answered by local crews. “I don’t think that it’s an improvement for maritime public safety,” he said.

 Comstock urged people to take note of the station’s new number and begin using it right away. Adjustments may be made over time to ensure people can connect easily with staff in Chatham.

 “As we work through the implementation of the new system we may add some additional options for folks to get a hold of other people at the station,” he said.

As always, the Coast Guard continues to monitor marine radio channel 16 for distress calls.