Tag Archives: Coast Guard
F/V Captain Billy Haver Crewman Held Without Bail, Coast Guard May Day Call Audio
The fisherman charged with killing one crew mate and injuring another on board a commercial fishing vessel off the Massachusetts coast has been held without bail. Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez made his initial appearance in federal court on Wednesday in Boston where he is charged with murder and attempted murder. Authorities say Vazquez, a Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally, used a hammer and a knife to attack his shipmates Sunday on the Virginia-based vessel Captain Billy Haver about 55 miles off the coast of Nantucket. >click to read< Audio of the mayday call received by the U.S. Coast Guard from the fishing boat “Captain Billy Haver” which was approximately 60 miles east of Nantucket, Massachusetts Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. >click to listen<15:23
A week later, overturned F/V Miss Annie in Bluffton’s May River is still there. Here’s why
State officials said Friday they still didn’t know when the boat, which leaked an unknown amount of fuel into the river, would be removed. The boat, “Miss Annie,” overturned Sept. 15, when it was docked in the May to avoid Florence’s wrath. An official with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and another with S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control visited the site that day. Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard didn’t arrive until Monday because the boat was “reported as stable” and all of their “assets were engaged in the hurricane response with the impacts in Myrtle Beach and Wilmington,” U.S. Coast Guard MSTC Clayton Rennie said Thursday morning. >click to read<10:00
Coast guard joins search for missing orca J50
Coast Guard personnel are assisting members of NOAA’s Fisheries Service in the search for the missing Southern Resident killer whale, J50. An intense search effort was launched Thursday in which a Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Port Angeles, several NOAA researchers in separate boats and multiple whale watching vessels and organizations searched for the 31/2-year-old whale. Various news sources report the whale as dead. >click to read<17:07
Coast Guard establishes temporary maritime emergency contact numbers for North Carolina
Sept. 12, 2018 U.S. Coast Guard Hurricane Florence Response Contact: Hurricane Response Media Operations Centers Hampton Roads/Elizabeth City: (757) 295-8435 North Carolina: (252) 515-0895 – Members of the public should follow all local advisories for evacuation and for seeking safe harbor throughout North Carolina as Hurricane Florence progresses. The primary number for help should be 911, as this number allows first responders to coordinate rescues across agencies. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina has established temporary maritime search and rescue phone numbers. >click to read new contact information< 19:05
Condition “Zulu” – Fishermen feel vacating the ports ahead of a tropical storm could be dangerous
For the City and County of Honolulu, the Coast Guard anticipated implementing condition “Zulu” by 6 a.m. Tuesday. If that happens, both Honolulu and Kalaeloa harbors will be shut down and all vessels must be evacuated, unless they have permission to stay in port. As of Monday night, Coast Guard officials said they were closely watching Olivia’s track before making any changes to port conditions. With Olivia approaching, some fishing boat owners say they would feel safer staying in the harbor than out at sea. “We are concerned for our fisherman, for their safety, and for their livelihoods. These boats are their lives. To put them into any more immediate danger is more troubling to me,” said Michael Goto, auction manager with the United Fishing Agency. >click to read<15:10
Coast Guard sets port condition ZULU for Hawaii, Maui, Honolulu Counties ahead of Hurricane Olivia – >click to read<
Coast Guard rescues 2 fishermen near Port Aransas, Texas
The Coast Guard rescued two fishermen after their fishing vessel began taking on water approximately 35 miles east of Port Aransas, Texas, Monday morning. At 11:52 p.m. Sunday, Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders received notification that the fishing vessel Jenna Dawn was disabled and taking on water. Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast, diverted a Station Port Aransas 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew and launched a Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew. Once on scene, the two fishermen were transferred from the vessel to the RB-M and taken back to shore. No medical assistance was requested. The vessel’s owner will coordinate salvage. -USCG- 12:01
Coast Guard, local fire department medevac fisherman off Provincetown
Coast Guard crews along with the Provincetown Fire Department medically evacuated a fisherman Saturday morning after he fell overboard approximately two miles off the coast of Provincetown. The captain of the scallop boat Glutton notified the Coast Guard at approximately 7:15 a.m. that one of his crew, a 24-year-old man, had fallen overboard and became entangled in fishing gear. The fisherman freed himself, resurfaced and was recovered by the Glutton crew. (photo credit Building Provincetown) >click to read<11:37
Catch and Release: Humpback snared in a fishing net
A group of 85 whale watchers witnessed humpback whale “Owl” thrash for 50 minutes while caught in a fishing net Thursday afternoon off the Isle of Shoals, said Peter Reynolds who led the tour. Jen Kennedy, executive director of the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, said the fishing net was deployed off the purse-seiner” vessel “Western Wave” and the net “completely encompassed the 32 year-old humpback.,, A Coast Guard spokesman said a Coast Guard boat patrolling at the time, about 2:15 pm Thursday, responded to the incident, took about 40 minutes to get there and by the time it did, the fishing net had been lowered and Owl was freed. >click to read<15:13
Coast Guard rescues 3 fishermen in response to EPIRB activation near Port Isabel, Texas
The Coast Guard rescued three crewmembers from a life raft after their fishing vessel caught fire approximately 40 miles east of Port Isabel, Texas, Friday morning. Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders in New Orleans received an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert from the fishing vessel Master D, which provided an approximate location of the vessel. Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Coho to the location. The Coho crew located the fishing vessel on fire, as well as the three-person crew in a life raft nearby and transferred them aboard the cutter. >click to read<12:19
Oregon boat captain accused of drunken assault on woman at sea
An Oregon man accused of assaulting a woman on a commercial fishing ship he was operating while intoxicated was arrested after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter located the vessel and sent a response boat to board the ship, according to federal court documents. Branden Michael Vanderploeg of Winchester Bay is charged with assault within maritime jurisdiction and operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol. Vanderploeg, 38, is accused of holding the woman down, punching her repeatedly in the face, slamming her head into a tool box and swinging a fishing gaff at her – a pole with a sharp hook at the end used to stab large fish, >click to read<18:43
Fishing vessel catches fire at sea, crewmembers rescued
Three fishing vessels rescued the crew of the Rose Marie, a 77-foot stern trawler, which caught fire at sea Thursday, Coast Guard officials said. Crewmembers from the fishing vessel Alexis Martina radioed watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England about 1 p.m., reporting the Rose Marie was on fire, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Second Class Nicole J. Groll. The crew abandoned ship into a life raft, she said. The Rose Marie was about 65 miles east of Chatham when the fire started between noon and 12:30 p.m. Thursday. The Seven Seas, another fishing vessel that was nearby, rescued the four crewmembers from their life raft, she said. >click to read< >click for video<15:13
Former New Bedford Fishing Captain Pleads to Hindering Coast Guard Inspection at Sea
A former New Bedford fishing boat captain pleaded guilty Thursday to interfering with a U.S. Coast Guard inspection and faces sentencing Nov. 28, federal prosecutors said. Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of destruction or removal of property subject to seizure and inspection, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. On May 31, 2014, the Bulldog was engaged in commercial fishing off the coast of Massachusetts when the USCG boarded the vessel to perform a routine inspection, the news release said. At the time of the boarding, the Bulldog’s net was deployed in the water and the crew was actively fishing. >Click to read<18:49
Could Famed Coast Guard Rescue Boat Be Shipped To D.C.?
A private chat between leaders of the Orleans Historical Society and author Casey Sherman this morning (Aug. 22) led to questions about the future of the iconic CG36500 lifeboat that rescued 32 sailors from the sinking tanker Pendleton in 1952. Sherman, author of “The Finest Hours,” said he participated in a conference call with OHS President Kathleen McNeil and two others and was asked to “leverage my relationship with the Coast Guard” regarding the potential for eventually moving the boat to Washington, D.C., for display. “The idea of shipping the boat to Washington where only Coast Guard people would see it does a disservice,” Sherman said. >click to read<10:36
US Coast Guard Warns of LED Lighting Interference to Marine Radios, AIS Reception
The US Coast Guard says it’s received reports from crews, ship owners, inspectors, and other mariners regarding poor reception on VHF radiotelephone, digital selective calling (DSC), and automatic identification systems (AIS) when in the vicinity of LED lighting systems. This could include interior and exterior lighting, navigation lights, searchlights, and floodlights found on vessels of all sizes. “Radio frequency interference caused by these LED lamps [was] found to create potential safety hazards,” the Coast Guard said in an August 15 Marine Safety Alert. >click to read<19:47
You Don’t See This Everyday
It was a stunning visual – a powerboat sitting on top a J/105 while out on the Chesapeake Bay. This was the result of a violent collision in which, thankfully, no one was hurt. It was August 17 when the two boats were off the shore of Thomas Point Park when the commercial boat, part of a charter service, and a J/105 sailboat belonging to the Chesapeake Boating Club in Eastport, collided. There were nine people aboard the boats – 2 on the J/105 and 7 on the powerboat. The boats were perpendicularly stacked until emergency personnel arrived in the early afternoon and separated them and towed both to shore. Photos >click to read<12:17
Coast Guard law enforcement assists injured woman, investigates fisherman for BUI off of Oregon Coast
A Coast Guard law enforcement team assisted an injured woman and are investigating the circumstances surrounding a commercial fisherman allegedly boating under the influence 12 miles off the Oregon Coast, Friday morning. A Coast Guard boat crew and law enforcement team aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Umpqua River removed the woman, reportedly suffering from a head laceration, bruising and swelling in the facial region, off the commercial fishing vessel Pescadero and transferred her to emergency medical services awaiting at Station Umpqua River, which transported her to Lower Umpqua River Hospital. >click to read<20:04
Coast Guard responding to diesel spill in Newport’s Yaquina Bay
The Coast Guard is responding to a diesel spill of approximately 700 gallons that occurred in Yaquina Bay in Newport, early Tuesday morning. Coast Guard oil spill responders from Sector Columbia River’s Incident Management Detachment in Portland arrived on scene at 11 a.m. to oversee cleanup efforts that began when local responders deployed containment booms and applied sorbents. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector North Bend and Sector Columbia River received a report of the diesel spill at 12:30 a.m., from a representative of NWFF Environmental. The spill reportedly happened when the crew of the commercial fishing vessel Coast Pride left a transfer pump on. >click to read<19:35
UPDATED – Unified command responds to grounded vessel near Santa Cruz
The Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), Monterey County, Santa Cruz Fire Department and a representative of the vessel owners have established a unified command in response to a 56-foot commercial fishing vessel that ran aground with a maximum potential capacity of 1,200 gallons of diesel aboard near Natural Bridges State Park, Sunday morning. The captain of the fishing vessel, Pacific Quest, contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders at approximately 2 a.m. Sunday, reporting that his vessel ran aground with only himself and his dog aboard. >click to read<06:38
Three Coast Guard aircrews transit more than 1,200 miles to medevac man from fishing vessel west of Dutch Harbor
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a man from the 116-foot commercial fishing vessel Patricia Lee 190 miles west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, early Tuesday morning. The helicopter crew safely transported the 27-year-old man from the fishing vessel Patricia Lee to awaiting air ambulance personnel in Dutch Harbor for further care. The man was reported to have been in stable condition. District 17 command center watchstanders received a report Monday evening from the fishing vessel’s master that a crewman had been hit in the head by a crab pot. >click to read<18:29
Seven rescued from sinking boat after it collidided with a commercial fishing vessel near Chatham
The 38-foot speed boat and a 40-foot commercial fishing vessel crashed at 6:20 a.m.Saturday morning, sending the speed boat — the Artemis II — 90 feet down to the bottom of the ocean, US Coast Guard Lieutenant John Mansolillo said. The vessels were about 7 miles southeast of Chatham, he said. One of the seven Artemis II passengers fell into the water during the collision, but all seven were rescued by the three-person crew on the fishing vessel, the Great Pumpkin, Mansolillo said. No one was injured. >click to read<09:18
High-dollar sports fishing boat crashes into shrimp boat, sinks
A sports fishing boat worth more than $1 million crashed this weekend into a shrimping boat before sinking during a fishing tournament about 45 miles offshore from Port O’Connor. The crash of the 61-foot sports fishing boat, named Got ‘M On, was reported to the Coast Guard at 4:10 p.m. Saturday, assistant public affairs officer Kenneth Hawkins said Sunday. The Got ‘M On collided with a 79-foot shrimping boat named Lady Toni, the Coast Guard reported.,,, No one on the shrimping boat was in the water. No one was arrested or cited after the crash. Only minor injuries, such as scrapes and bruises, were reported, and no one was transported to a hospital. >click to read<10:08
Coast Guard medevacs fisherman 20 miles north of Kodiak
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a male crewmember from a fishing vessel in Duck Bay, near Kodiak, Alaska, Wednesday. The Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted the crewmember from the fishing vessel Nordic Cross and transported him to Kodiak where he was transferred to awaiting emergency medical services personnel. Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstanders received notification from the crew of the Nordic Cross, who reported a 47-year-old crewman was suffering from a leg injury. >click to read<19:38
After a hammer attack on a shrimp boat, Coast Guard searching for shrimper who fell or jumped into water off Fort Myers Beach
Members of the Coast Guard are looking for a man who fell (or jumped) off a shrimp boat. Brandon Scerri, 23, fell near Bowditch Point on Fort Myers Beach. He was on the shrimp boat “Jacob” on his way back from near the Florida Keys and Dry Tortuga area. Crime Stoppers said Scerri is a transient on Fort Myers Beach and doesn’t have any family in the area. Investigators said Scerri has gone missing before and may have mental health issues. >Video, >click to watch<08:30
Coast Guard suspends search for man overboard in Ugashik Bay, has been identified
The Coast Guard suspended its search Friday for a man reported overboard from the 190-foot fishing vessel Cape Greig in Ugashik Bay, Alaska. A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew, a Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and nine good Samaritan vessels searched a total of 13-square miles along the Ugashik Bay shoreline and up the river in efforts to locate the man. On Thursday, at approximately 4:27 p.m., Communications Detachment Kodiak personnel received a report of a man overboard from the fishing vessel Cape Greig. photo credit vesselfinder.com >click to read<
Overboard fisherman sought near Pilot Point – Grant Hildreth Jr., 25, reportedly fell into the river at about 4 p.m., troopers said in an online dispatch. Word of the fall was relayed to troopers by the village public safety officer in Pilot Point. >click to read<16:21
Coast Guard rescues 2 survivors clinging to debris in Pamlico Sound, NC
Two men were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter crew Wednesday morning, after their fishing boat capsized Tuesday near Hog Island.,, The wife of a fishermen called for help Tuesday night, on behalf of her husband, reporting the generator on the men’s boat was not working properly and the men were trying to find safety near shore in the deteriorating weather. They had departed Ocracoke Tuesday morning and were planning to shrimp in Pamlico Sound before unloading their catch in Engelhard. >click to read<07:54
Two rescued after shrimp boat capsizes during storm in Pamlico Sound
The two-man crew of a small shrimp boat from Carteret County were rescued by the Coast Guard early Wednesday after their craft capsized in the Pamlico Sound during a thunderstorm. The Mad Lady II from Marshallberg was reported overdue Tuesday evening, after reportedly running into generator problems while trying to reach Englehard.,, A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City located the Mad Lady II capsized off Hog Island around 6:20 a.m., and a Good Samaritan also reported finding debris nearby, Kendrick said. At 7:32 a.m., the captain and mate were found by the helicopter crew clinging to debris about seven miles from where the boat went down. >click to read<10:26
Coast Guard medevacs sick fisherman 6 miles off Nantucket
A Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod aircrew medevaced a 40-year-old man experiencing abdominal pain Tuesday six miles southwest of Nantucket. The captain of the fishing vessel Provider notified Coast Guard watchstanders shortly after 2 p.m. of the sick crew member. An Air Station Cape Cod MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was conducting prescheduled training in the area at the time and diverted to assist. The aircrew hoisted the fisherman to the helicopter and flew him back to Air Station Cape Cod where he was transferred to awaiting emergency medical services personnel. -USCG-19:29
Coast Guard, good Samaritan rescue 2 fishermen after boat capsizes in the Gulf
The Coast Guard and a good Samaritan rescued two boaters Thursday after their 25-foot boat capsized 50 miles west of Naples. Rescued were Frederick Cunningham, 42, and James Nipper, 48.
At 5:56 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received a Mayday via VHF-FM radio channel 16 from a man stating, “Mayday, Mayday – this is the vessel…” but the transmission was lost. Two additional calls from the same man were received but no usable information could be heard. At 7:48 a.m., Coast Guard Seventh District command center watchstanders received an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon alert from the 25-foot commercial fishing boat. >click to read<19:16
Coast Guard investigating cause of fishing vessel grounding off Honolulu Airport
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of a fishing vessel grounding off the Honolulu Airport, Wednesday. Coast Guard crews and salvors from Cates Marine responded to the grounding Wednesday morning, the vessel was successfully refloated, and the Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the grounding. About 30 minutes past midnight Sector Honolulu watchstanders received a report from the master of the Sea Goddess, an 83-foot Honolulu-based longliner, they were aground about 150-yards from the middle runway at Honolulu Airport with six people aboard. >click to read<18:43
Coast Guard crew issues violation to commercial fishermen off Oregon Coast
A Coast Guard cutter crew issued a violation to commercial fishermen who caught salmon outside of the fishing season 20 miles off the coast of Newport, Oregon, Sunday. A boarding team from the Coast Guard Cutter Orcas, a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Coos Bay, issued a federal violation under 50 CFR 660.405 – fishing for, or taking and retaining, any species of salmon during closed seasons or in closed areas.,, The cutter Orcas crew conducted numerous boardings over the weekend on both commercial and recreational vessels. >click to read<22:11
