San Francisco Bay maritime traffic controllers still on the job amid federal paycheck logjam

Some of the people most responsible for ensuring the waters of the San Francisco Bay are safe to navigate have been caught in the middle of a Congressional budget fight and aren’t being paid, a development that has put local maritime safety experts on edge.

The roughly 35 civilian Vessel Traffic Service operators who work at the U.S. Coast Guard base on Yerba Buena Island are responsible for monitoring the movement of most ships and larger boats inside the Bay, communicating with bar pilots and captains and helping everyone avoid collisions and groundings.