Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard held a decommissioning ceremony for its Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) Station in Caribou, Maine. The LORAN-C station was commissioned in November of 1974, marking 35-years of service.
The station transmitted the American northeast 9960 and Canadian East Coast 5930 navigation and timing signals. It had a crew of four active duty Coast Guard members. Termination of the LORAN-C program was supported through the enactment of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. Transmission of the American signal ended on February 8, 2010, and the Canadian signal was terminated on August 3, 2010.
LORAN Station Caribou has the distinction of being the last station to transmit an American Loran signal, thus ending the 67-year LORAN-C program.
