Tag Archives: Canadian Coast Guard
Canadian Coast Guard struggling
Reduced search-and-rescue coverage, ferry-service disruptions, cancelled resupply runs to Arctic and coastal communities and nearly $2 million in lost navigational buoys. Those are among the real safety, social and commercial impacts that communities across the country are starting to feel as the Canadian Coast Guard’s fleet gets older, according to new documents obtained by The Canadian Press. And the problems are expected to get worse: the documents warn that more than a third of the coast guard’s 26 large vessels have exceeded their expected lifespans and many won’t survive until replacements arrive. >click to read<09:21
Fair Weather Fleet? How some coast guard ships stayed tied up when they could have been at work
There is more evidence suggesting Canadian coast guard mid-shore patrol vessels are a fair-weather fleet. Documents obtained by CBC News show that during a one-year period, two mid-shore patrol vessels based in Nova Scotia were tied up for 151 days in weather conditions when they were supposed to be operable. Last month, CBC revealed the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is looking at installing stabilizers — blades that counteract the motion of waves — on its nine coast guard mid-shore vessels. This followed widespread complaints from crew about excessive rolling at sea. >click to read<10:20
Coast guard’s $227M ships rock ‘like crazy,’ making crews seasick, unable to work
Canada’s $227-million fleet of mid-shore coast guard vessels are rolling “like crazy” at sea, making crews seasick and keeping some ships in port during weather conditions where they should be able to operate, CBC News has learned. Canadian Coast Guard records and correspondence obtained under federal access to information legislation raise questions about the patrol vessels’ seagoing capability and reveal a two-year debate — still unresolved — on how to address the problem. At issue is the lack of stabilizer fins — blades that stick out from the hull to counteract the rolling motion of waves — on nine Hero class ships that were built by the Irving Shipyard in Halifax between 2010 and 2014. >click to read<19:03
Early ice growth means busy icebreaking season for coast guard vessels, officials in St. John’s say
The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker fleet is expecting a busy season with the freeze-up of sea ice occurring three to four weeks ahead of a normal ice year, officials said in St. John’s Tuesday. Brad Durnford, superintendent of ice operations for the Atlantic Region, said during a technical briefing that water temperatures are lower than normal around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland and Labrador, and long-term forecasts show Eastern Canada having a chance of a cooler than normal winter, which will continue the ice growth. >click to read<09:44
New SAR lifeboats for Canadian Coast Guard
Public Services and Procurement Canada is set to acquire eight new SAR lifeboats from Chantier Naval Forillon and Hike Metal Products for the Canadian Coast Guard. The companies are already producing six SAR lifeboats each under contracts signed in 2015. Under the amended contracts, each shipyard will build four additional vessels at a total cost of $61.8 million. With the ability to operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore, these new high-endurance lifeboats will enhance the coast guard’s SAR capabilities. >click to read<21:10
Not ready for Prime Time? Coast Guard rescue boat breaks down on way home after refit
A Canadian Coast Guard rescue lifeboat broke down twice this month en route to its Nova Scotia home port after a refit, CBC News has learned. The CCGS Clarks Harbour is still undergoing repairs at the West Head wharf on Cape Sable Island, but the Coast Guard said it will be available for the winter lobster season in southwest Nova Scotia, which is just days away. “The fact it’s not in service is that we are conducting ongoing maintenance and ensuring it’s ready to go for the opening,” said Wade Spurrell, acting Deputy Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. >click to read<10:15
SAR resources will be in place for lobster season opening in southwest Nova Scotia
A full complement of Search and Rescue (SAR) resources will be on the water and standing by when the commercial lobster fishery in LFAs 33 and 34 opens. “We’re in the business of planning for the worst and hoping for the best,” said Marc Ouellette, Canadian Coast Guard Regional Supervisor for Maritime Search and Rescue at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Halifax.,, Ouellette said there’s a strategy in place for the opening of the LFA 33 and 34 fishery, which is repeated every year without too much modification and is based on the amount of marine traffic and the risk identified through studies of what is high risk for SAR coverage. >click to read<10:21
Canadian Coast Guard ends search for two P.E.I. fishermen missing off North Cape
The Canadian Coast Guard has called off the search for the two P.E.I. fishermen who went missing after their lobster fishing boat sank off North Cape on Tuesday, Sept. 18. Captain Glen DesRoches, 57, and his longtime helper Maurice (Moe) Getson, 54, have been missing since the vessel “Kyla Anne” sunk near the North Cape reef that afternoon. A third man, 22-year-old Tanner Gaudet, was able to swim safely to shore. The Coast Guard said in a statement that after over 33 hours of searching an area covering around 1,200 square nautical miles, the decision was made to end the search at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. >click to read<23:10
Search underway for 2 missing fishermen off Tignish, P.E.I.
A search is underway for two people missing from a boat that capsized late Tuesday afternoon in Tignish, P.E.I. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax is co-ordinating the search. “At approximately 5 o’clock local time, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre here in Halifax received a report of two people in the water near Tignish, P.E.I.” said Maj. Mark Gough, senior public affairs office with Maritime Forces Atlantic in Halifax.,,, Local fishermen say the seas were rough and dangerous Tuesday in the area due to a strong wind from the northeast. >click to read<21:46
Search ends for missing fishing crew member 250 kilometres northeast of St. Anthony
A search by air and sea for a fishing boat crew member who went missing early Saturday morning in the waters near St. Anthony is over. Joint Task Force Atlantic tweeted Sunday night it’s now a missing person’s case and is in the hands of the RCMP. Joint Task Force Atlantic spokesperson Maj. Amber Binau had said the call came in from crew members of the Precious Jewel fishing vessel on Saturday at around 5 a.m, saying a person had fallen overboard about 250 kilometres northeast of St. Anthony. Search and rescue crews, including three Canadian Coast Guard ships and other auxiliary vessels, began looking for the crew member right away, she said. The search continued over the weekend. Binau said the person was not wearing a flotation device or survival gear at the time of the incident. >link<20:55
Search continues in St. Anthony area for fishing crew member that fell overboard
A crew member of a fishing boat has been missing for more than 24 hours after falling overboard in the waters near St. Anthony, according to officials. Joint Task Force Atlantic spokesperson Maj. Amber Binau said the call came in from crew members of the Precious Jewel fishing vessel on Saturday at around 5 a.m, saying a person had fallen overboard about 250 kilometres northeast of St. Anthony. Search and rescue crews, including three Canadian Coast Guard ships and other auxiliary vessels, began looking for the crew member right away, she said. The search continued all day Saturday, and weather conditions in the area have been favourable. Binau said the person was not wearing a flotation device or survival gear at the time of the incident. >link<10:25
North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson appointed minister of fisheries, oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard
The last seven federal fisheries ministers have represented ridings in Atlantic Canada and one of them, Gail Shea, was appointed twice. But today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed a B.C. MP, Jonathan Wilkinson, to take over this portfolio from Dominic LeBlanc. Wilkinson was first elected in 2015 to represent North Vancouver in Parliament. The last B.C. fisheries minister was Herb Dhaliwal, who held this position from 1999 to 2002. He was preceded by another B.C. MP, David Anderson, who was fisheries minister from 1997 to 1999. Wilkinson is also the minister responsible for the Canadian Coast Guard. >click to read<18:51
Maine lobster fisherman says U.S. border patrol has been boarding American boats, not just Canadian
U.S. border officials have not been deliberately “harassing” Canadian fishing boats in disputed Atlantic waters — agents have boarded numerous American vessels, too, as part of an unprecedented recent operation, says a prominent Maine lobsterman. John Drouin said his and his two sons’ boats and those of other American fishermen have all been stopped in the past couple of months by U.S. Border Patrol vessels, something he’s rarely seen in 40 years plying the waters. “It baffles me just as much as anybody else,” said Drouin, a member of Maine’s lobster advisory council. “I have no clue why they’re here, spending taxpayers’ money and resources … (But) for whatever reason, they now have a presence.”>click to read<22:32
UPDATED: 2 dead after fishing boats collide off southeastern P.E.I.
Two men are dead after two fishing boats collided about nine kilometres off southeastern P.E.I., police say. RCMP Cpl. Gregg Garrett said the collision happened Saturday between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Police, paramedics and firefighters, as well as officials from DFO, victims services and the Canadian Coast Guard, were at the Beach Point wharf near Murray Harbour on Saturday. >click to read<21:23
Two men dead after fishing boats collided near Beach Point, P.E.I. – Const. Tara McBride of the RCMP says one boat was on its way back to shore and smashed into another boat that was buoyed off about 10 kilometres off the coast of Beach Point. She says there were eight crewmembers total between the two boats, including the men that died. McBride says both of the deceased were on the same boat. >click to read<13:48
Retiring marine radio operator recalls 50 years of triumph and tragedy
His name may not be familiar. But Blair Duhamel’s voice is known by mariners across Eastern Canada. For 50 years, the Glace Bay man has worked as a marine radio operator for the Canadian Coast Guard. At his retirement celebration at the Canadian Coast Guard College in Westmount, N.S., colleagues paid tribute to a man who’s helped “countless” mariners to safety. “I was fresh out of high school and applying for anything I saw in the paper,” he said. ‘So I applied for this job, not knowing what it was. But I’m very glad I did.” When he started in the spring of 1968, at age 19, mariners used Morse code to communicate. >click to read<18:37
Sea trials for new Coast Guard vessel set for the summer
The first Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard was launched at Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver in December and a short time later transferred to Victoria, BC for finishing work. The ship, Sir John Franklin, is the first large vessel to be designed and built under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. Defence Watch has received a number of emails indicating that there are major electrical issues with the vessel. >click to read<20:16
Ice still holding up crab fishery
The Canadian Coast Guard still has about five to seven days of ice-breaking operations around New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula, the acting superintendent of Ice Operations Atlantic, Trevor Hodgson, reported Wednesday. Ice had started its normal regression from the Gulf of St. Lawrence by early March but a few days of northeasterly winds in mid-March reversed that trend. “It hit the Gulf pretty hard, he said. “It essentially took all the ice that was in the Gulf and compacted it into three big piles,”,, >click to read<20:49
Aging coast guard ships stuck in refits put crucial Georges Bank fisheries survey at risk
Once again, Canada’s fleet of coast guard vessels is showing its age. A federal fisheries science survey on Georges Bank is delayed this winter because the Canadian Coast Guard vessel normally tasked with the job is out of commission on an extended refit, CBC News has learned. And a second coast guard ship expected to take over the job is also unavailable because it, too, is undergoing a refit that had to be extended. The five-week Department of Fisheries and Oceans survey off southern Nova Scotia usually starts mid-February aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Alfred Needler, but the 36-year-old vessel is high and dry these days in a St. John’s shipyard. >click to read< 09:40
Aground – Crew rescued after fishing vessel suffers significant damage near Witless Bay
Two people aboard the Northern Star fishing vessel were rescued by helicopter after the ship ran aground near Witless Bay early Saturday morning. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax dispatched a Cormorant helicopter to rescue the two individuals, and Canadian Coast Guard officials are now on the scene with an environmental response team, the CCGS Sir Wilfred Grenfell and a helicopter. >click to read< 12:16
3 crew members rescued as Search and Rescue mission underway for fishing boat captain off Canso
A search and rescue mission is underway about four kilometres southeast of Canso, N.S., to find the captain of a fishing vessel that ran aground on rocks. The military’s Joint Task Force Atlantic said it received a distress call from the vessel at 11 p.m. Tuesday. Three of the four crew members were rescued when another fishing boat came to help, but the fourth person — the captain — stayed on the stranded vessel. There has been no communication with the captain since. >click to read< 23:32
Seaspan launches Canadian Coast Guard’s first Offshore Fisheries Science Vessel
The first large vessel to be designed and built under the Canadian National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) was launched at Seaspan Shipyards on December 8. ‘Sir John Franklin’ is the first of three offshore fisheries science vessels (OFSV) which will be operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. In 2011, the government of Canada selected Seaspan to be its non-combat shipbuilder as part of the NSS program. click here to read the story 09:44
Coast Guard ship fined for going too fast in Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Transport Canada has fined the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir William Alexander $6,000 for going too fast in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The ship allegedly violated the federal government’s 10-knot speed limit that was put in place in August to prevent further deaths of the endangered North Atlantic right whales. As of Sept. 16, there’s been 11 right whales confirmed dead in the Gulf. “We take the speed restriction very seriously,” Delphine Denis, a spokesperson for the federal Minister of Transport, said in an email. click here to read the story 16:41
Carcass of a North Atlantic right whale spotted in the Gulf of St. Lawrence – click here to read the story
Canadian Coast Guard names new SAR boats as Bay-class
The first in a fleet of Canadian Coast Guard’s new search and rescue (SAR) lifeboats will be named after Conception Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canadian minister of fisheries Dominic LeBlanc announced on Monday. Following the lead ship in the class, up to 20 new “Bay”-class boats will be named after geographical bays across Canada. The CCGS Conception Bay will be stationed in the Atlantic region. The new high-endurance, self-righting search and rescue lifeboats will operate up to 100 nautical miles from shore, delivering improved search and rescue capability. click here to read the story 08:42
Crab-fishing boat runs aground on Rose Spit
A crab-fishing boat ran hard aground on Rose Spit this morning (8/31). All four people on board the boat, the Prince Rupert-based Carmanah Light, managed to get to the beach safely wearing survival suits. No injuries have been reported. Search-and rescue volunteers with Archipelago SAR drove to Rose Spit and picked up the stranded crew. Masset Marine Rescue, BC Parks, DFO, Haida Fisheries and the Canadian Coast Guard are also responding on land and water. Masset Mayor Andrew Merilees, also a volunteer with Archipelago SAR, was the first on scene. click here to read the story 07:29
Biologist slams U.S. vessel for running aground in Witless Bay Reserve
Oil from a U.S. fishing vessel killed a number of birds inside the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve on Friday, and a seabird biologist says the boat had no business being so close to Green Island to run aground in the first place.,, The Canadian Coast Guard’s environmental response team cleaned up Friday, and DFO said no pollution was reported in Witless Bay. Transport Canada is investigating. Montevecchi said the Eyelander, an American fishing boat, was apparently too close to Green Island early Friday morning and ran aground. click here to read the story 20:46
No oiled birds spotted in Witless Bay area – In a statement Tuesday, the Canadian Coast Guard said its environmental response surveillance flights — and surveys by boat of the area on Saturday along with the Canadian Wildlife Service — confirmed there was no pollution in the area. Meantime, two dive surveys have been completed on the fishing vessel with no sign of diesel or oil leakage. click here to read the story 8/28 16:39
Carcass of right whale being towed to P.E.I. to determine cause of death
The Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada were expected to beach a dead right whale on a Prince Edward Island shore Wednesday in a bid to learn what killed at least six of the endangered mammals in recent weeks. Tonya Wimmer of the Marine Animal Response Society said the carcass was being towed to shore at Norway, P.E.I., with the intention of conducting a necropsy on Thursday. “For the coast guard and Fisheries and Oceans … it is a very slow process to ensure the safety of the people on the boats and also make sure they don’t lose the animal midway coming in. Some of these animals are coming from quite a ways away,” Wimmer said. click here to read the story 15:22
Canadian Coast Guard warns Fishermen – Too dangerous to go fishing due to ice
The Canadian Coast guard is telling Newfoundland fishermen not to go fishing because of sea ice that’s packed into bays on the northeast coast of the island. “I would definitely say don’t go out,” said Trevor Hodgson, superintendent of ice for the Atlantic region. “If you’re in port, that’s the safest place for you to be. If you’re out of port, in open water, don’t try and get back through that ice pack to get into port. Choose another, alternate route,” Hodgson added. It’s particularly bad now because of the storm that hit the island over the long holiday weekend pushing thick, heavy ice into shore. Hodgson said he’s fearful fishermen are going out not realizing the potential danger. Click here to read the story 08:04
Eight Fishermen rescued from sinking fishing boat near Burin Peninsula
Eight crew on a sinking fishing vessel near the Burin Peninsula were rescued by search and rescue teams on Friday, according to Joint Task Force Atlantic. JTF said Friday night that all eight crew members from a vessel in distress were hoisted onto a Cormorant helicopter about 130 nautical miles south of Burin. The vessel was taking on water, and JTF said Friday night it was abandoned. A spokesperson for the agency said helicopters originally sent three water pumps down to help remove water from the ship, but the group couldn’t keep up with the flooding. No vessel identification is mentioned. Link Watch the video here 08:49
UPDATED: Vessel Safe in Yarmouth Harbor – Pump dropped to fishing boat taking on water off Yarmouth
A Hercules aircraft has dropped a pump to a 13-metre fishing vessel taking on water off Yarmouth, N.S., and the situation is “stable,” according to the military’s Joint Task Force Atlantic. Canadian Navy Lt. Len Hickey said a call to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre came in around 8:30 a.m. AT about the fishing vessel Tide ‘N Knots taking on water about 32 kilometres off the coast. The Hercules, along with a Cormorant helicopter and several Canadian Coast Guard vessels have been dispatched to the scene to help. There’s no word on how many people are on the vessel or whether anyone has been injured, though Hickey underscored the situation is “stable.” Read the rest here. Another report confirms there are five fishermen aboard. Read that here 15:00
Four fishermen rescued off New Brunswick
The Summerside-based Canadian Coast Guard Vessel, Cap Nord, was dispatched Tuesday evening after a New Brunswick fishing vessel reported it was taking on water. Sub. Lt. Blair Gilmore with the Canadian Coast Guard’s Joint Recue Coordination Centre, said all four persons onboard the Julie and Jolene were able to get safely onboard a “vessel of opportunity,” the fishing vessel Black Pearl that was in the area at the time. No one was injured and the four crewmembers were taken into port at Richibucto. The distress call from the Julie and Jolene was received around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The vessel subsequently sank. Link 12:31
