Daily Archives: January 4, 2014

USCGC Polar Star to assist vessels in Antarctica

ALAMEDA – The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is responding to a Jan. 3rd request from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to assist the Russian-Flagged Akademik Shokalskiy and Chinese-Flagged Xue Long that are reportedly ice-bound in the Antarctic.  The Russian and Chinese Governments have also requested assistance from the United States.  Read more@uscgnews  18:51

F/V Unicorn Takes on Water; Volunteers Rally to Save Her

F/V Unicorn  nearly sank Friday night in Menemsha after a cracked valve caused the docked boat to take on gallons of water. A crew of volunteers worked into the night in below freezing temperatures to pump out water from the hull and safely secure it. Read more@vineyardgazette  16:14

Trying Very Hard To Die: The Preventable Disease in Commercial Fishing – Is it the work, or the workers?

Ocean_Signal_rescueME_PLB1_M webYesterday, the New York Times published an outstanding piece of journalism – A Speck in the Sea by Paul Tough.  But what struck me most wasn’t Aldridge’s will to live or the harrowing details of his survival; it wasn’t the incredible search effort to find him, either. It was that Aldridge, like so many commercial fishermen before him, seemed to be trying very hard to die. Read more@gcaptain 10:59

Gentlemen, and Ladies, Wear Your PFD All the Time, says NIOSH

Fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. Last year the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked fishing as the second most dangerous profession, behind logging, based on the number of fatalities.  Between 2000 and 2012, there were 623 commercial fishing related deaths nationwide, according to a database run by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety. NIOSH has been studying the incidents that led to those deaths carefully, and believes hundreds of lives might be saved if more people would wear their PFD’s. Read more@kdlg  01:09