Tag Archives: Coast Guard
Coast Guard rescues 3 from sunken longliner off Dry Tortugas National Park
A Coast Guard Air Station Miami MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew rescued three fishermen, Sunday, after their fishing vessel sank near Dry Tortugas National Park. The Dolphin helicopter crew arrived on scene at approximately 2 p.m., hoisted the men into the aircraft and transferred them to Key West International Airport in good health. A good Samaritan contacted Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstanders at approximately 8 a.m. reporting the 45-foot longliner, F/V Mrs. Sandy, was taking on water with three crew members aboard. Sector Key West watchstanders used Mrs. Sandy’s emergency indicating radio beacon position to locate the vessel. 3 Photos, >click to read< 19:49
Coast Guard rescues 2 from fishing vessel taking on water near Cape Chiniak, Alaska
Kodiak, Alaska — The Coast Guard rescued two mariners Sunday after their vessel began taking on water in the vicinity of Cape Chiniak. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew hoisted both survivors at 9:11 a.m. and transported them in stable condition to awaiting emergency medical services at Air Station Kodiak. They were then transferred to Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center for further medical assessment. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Anchorage command center received notification at 8:00 a.m. Sunday that the 64-foot commercial fishing vessel, F/V Alitak was taking on water with two people aboard. >click to read< 18:35
F/V Kodiak Enterprise: Unified Command stands down for vessel fire in Tacoma, Washington
The Unified Command composed of Tacoma Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, Washington Department of Ecology and Puyallup Tribe of Indians, with support from several other agencies, which was stood up to respond to the April 8 fire aboard the fishing vessel Kodiak Enterprise moored in the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma, was stood down Friday. Over the last several days, responders alternated between removing fuel and pockets of water, to maintain vessel stability. All of the diesel remaining aboard the vessel was successfully removed with no fuel spilled or sheening observed during defueling operations. Now that the pollution threat has been mitigated, the Unified Command has stood down. >click to read< 08:51
F/V Kodiak Enterprise: Firefighters extinguish hot spots, prepare to scale back response to fishing boat fire in Tacoma
The fire on the 276-foot vessel Kodiak Enterprise started at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday while the boat was moored at Trident Seafoods in the Hylebos Waterway, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard. The fire department is currently working on a demobilization plan to scale back its response to the incident. “Now that it’s safe, we’re actually putting people in those individual rooms [of the vessel] again. Things have cooled down, and we’re actually able to go compartment by compartment and check those off,” said Magliocca. “It seems like there’s no pressure on the tanks that we’ve been worried about, the freon tank and the fuel tank.” Photos, >click to read< 08:05
Fire Subsides Aboard Factory Trawler F/V Kodiak Enterprise
Firefighters have begun the process of knocking down the last remaining pockets of fire aboard the factory trawler F/V Kodiak Enterprise, which caught fire at a pier in Tacoma early Saturday. The fire burned through most of the vessel by Monday and decreased further in size on Tuesday, according to the unified command managing the response. The blaze has subsided enough that the Tacoma Fire Department green-lighted operations to access the ship’s interior and begin extinguishing any remaining hot spots. The vessel still has a pronounced list to port, but dewatering operations are under way to restore full stability. A dive inspection on Tuesday found that the ship is intact below the waterline, dispelling earlier concerns that she might be taking on water. Photos, >click to read< 10:47
F/V Kodiak Enterprise: Day 3 – Fire crews prioritizing keeping burning Tacoma ship from capsizing
The ship is visibly leaning to the port side, “more than we want it to,” officials said on Monday. The ship is taking on water, but crews working on scene aren’t sure how. Work is underway to pump water out of the ship so it remains stable. A dive operation is also underway so the hull of the ship can be inspected. In the meantime, as the fire continues burning inside, firefighters are keeping their distance. “We’re trying to limit the number of people that go on board,” said Todd Magliocca, an operations leader with Tacoma Fire. Applying water from the inside is risky as crews are trying to prioritize keeping the ship upright. Video, >click to read< 10:32
F/V Kodiak Enterprise: Shelter-in-place remains in effect as fishing boat fire continues to burn
A massive fishing boat fire in Tacoma just northwest of Chinook Landing Marina continues to burn Monday. On Monday morning, smoke from the fire continued but had visibly lessened. The fire on the 276-foot vessel Kodiak Enterprise started at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday while the boat was moored at Trident Seafoods in the Hylebos Waterway. Trident Seafoods said there were three people on board the ship when the fire started but they made it out safely without any injuries. The cause of the incident is under investigation. Photos, >click to read< 11:42
Authorities respond to fishing vessel fire in Tacoma; shelter-in-place order issued for nearby areas
The Tacoma Fire Department has issued a temporary shelter-in-place order for some areas after a fishing vessel caught fire early Saturday morning, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard. The order applies to the Northeast Tacoma, Browns Point and Dash Point neighborhoods. Residents in these areas are advised to stay indoors and limit exposure to smoke. The Coast Guard has closed the Hylebos Waterway to all commercial and recreation vessel traffic at this time and has deployed the Coast Guard Cutter Osprey and Station Seattle to enforce the closure. 17 photos, >click to read< 20:39
Unified command responds to fishing vessel fire in Tacoma, Washington
The Tacoma Fire Department, the Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington Department of Ecology and other agencies are continuing their response to the fishing vessel, F/V Kodiak Enterprise, that caught fire early Saturday morning while moored at Trident Seafoods in the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma. The fire has progressed throughout the ship and was last reported approximately 100 feet from the vessel’s freon tanks. The vessel is reported to have an estimated 55,000 gallons of diesel and 19,000 pounds of freon onboard. The heat from the fire can cause pressure to build in the freon tanks. >click to read more< 17:44
Shrimp boat capt. says fire ‘scary,’ debris washes ashore
Roger “Rabbit” Cummings doesn’t know exactly how long he and the two crew members of the Miss Hopkins shrimp trawler floated in the water after jumping from the burning boat, but it seemed like a while. Cummings, the vessel’s captain, guesses they were adrift for about 45 minutes, donning lifejackets and keeping a tight grip on a hatch from the vessel before a speed boat came by and pulled the trio from the water while the Miss Hopkins was engulfed in flames nearby. They were about four miles 
off the coast of Jekyll Island. “It seemed like a long time,” Cummings said, “But it might not have been that long.” Eventually, a smaller boat that had seen the black plume of smoke on the horizon while in the Jekyll Sound pulled them from the water. The smoke was visible Friday afternoon on both Jekyll and St. Simons islands. >click to read< 08:07
Three rescued as shrimp boat catches fire off Jekyll
Three people were rescued about 4 miles off shore of Jekyll Island Friday after jumping from a burning shrimp boat that sent a plume of black smoke across the horizon visible from the beaches of Jekyll and St. Simons Island. U.S. Coast Guard Sector Charleston called the Brunswick station around 12:30 p.m. to report that a shrimp boat, the Miss Hopkins from Darien, was burning and three people were on board, a Coast Guard representative said Friday. >click to read< 14:44
Crews refloat boat that capsized near Crescent Harbor on Saturday
A fishing vessel that overturned just outside of a Sitka harbor this weekend was refloated early Monday morning. Around 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Coast Guard responded to a vessel that had capsized at the entrance to Crescent Harbor in downtown Sitka. Coast Guard Marine Science Technician Allysia Helton was at the scene. She said all four passengers on the F/V Ocean Cape managed to quickly get off the boat. No injuries were reported. “There were quite a few members of the community that were there on scene immediately after it happened, and they helped the crew get off the vessel and make sure everything was okay,” >click to read< 07:25
Coast Guard medevacs crewmember from fishing vessel 180 miles south of Pensacola, Florida
The Coast Guard medevaced a 45-year-old man approximately 180 miles south of Pensacola, Florida, Monday. Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a call at 10:26 a.m. from a good Samaritan vessel reporting that the crew of the 70-foot fishing vessel F/V Kim Nhi was requesting a medevac for a crewmember reportedly experiencing a medical emergency. Video, >click to read< 08:16
Coast Guard, agencies rescue 4 fishermen near Dauphin Island, Alabama
NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard, along with partner agencies, rescued four boaters after their vessel began to take on water near Dauphin Island, Alabama, Sunday. Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a call over VHF channel 16 at 5:17 a.m. Sunday from the 90-foot commercial fishing vessel Lady Lily reporting their vessel was taking on water with four people aboard. Watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew and a Coast Guard Station Dauphin Island 45-foot Response Boat- medium boatcrew to assist. Video, >click to read< 22:05
Coast Guard, good Samaritans rescue crew of sinking fishing vessel
Honolulu — The Coast Guard and good Samaritans aboard two commercial fishing vessels located and rescued the crew of the 52-foot commercial fishing vessel Sea Smile 545-miles southwest of Hawaii, Friday. The six crewmembers are reportedly in good condition and are making their way to Honolulu aboard the commercial fishing vessel Captain Minh. “Anytime you get word that a crew is preparing to abandon ship, you immediately become worried about the time required to reach the survivors,” said Cmdr. Marc McDonnell, operations officer for Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point. “In last night’s case, we appreciate the support of the good Samaritans aboard the commercial vessel Ying Rong No 638, who made this rescue possible. >click to read< 20:58
Marine Safety Alert: Engine Room Exhaust Hazards on Fishing Vessels
This Safety Alert addresses the importance of installing noncombustible materials in machinery space boundaries with dry exhaust systems. A recent marine casualty resulting in an engine room fire onboard a commercial fishing vessel identified significant hazards associated with main engine dry exhaust systems coming in direct contact with combustible materials, such as general-purpose resin on a wood Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) vessel. >click to read< 09:14
Coast Guard swimmer describes rescue of alleged Ore. yacht thief and ‘Goonies’ prankster
On the morning the U.S. Coast Guard in Astoria received a frantic mayday call from a yacht sinking near the treacherous mouth of the Columbia River, John “Branch” Walton was in his fifth and final day of advanced training as a rescue swimmer. Walton and his classmates leapt at the chance to respond. But it was a quick game of rock-paper-scissors that settled which swimmer would plunge into the churning, frigid waters nearby. Walton won. He was the least experienced of the bunch. Unbeknownst to the 22-year-old who learned to swim only after joining the Coast Guard a few years earlier, he’d soon execute a very difficult rescue seamlessly. And he would be thrust into the national limelight as millions viewed video of his first real-world rescue, taken from a camera mounted to the Coast Guard helicopter that flew him to the imperiled boater. >click to read< 10:29
Community determined to find missing fisherman
More than one week has lapsed since the fishing vessel Ethel May capsized near Willapa Bay and left one crew member missing on Feb. 5, but the man still hasn’t been found despite a growing effort to do so by the community and Pacific County officials. The search is for Bryson Fitch, 25, crab fisherman, husband, and father of three young children. An outpouring of support for the family of Fitch, and for the effort to find him, has swept the community since the F/V Ethel May capsized. “There is a huge community support and volunteers all over the county,” said Pacific County Sheriff Daniel Garcia on Friday in an interview. “There are some combing the beaches on foot, there are some flying drones, there are some who have their personal boats that are searching areas and coastlines.” Photos, >click to read< 14:55
County, community continues search for missing fisherman
After the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the official search for the missing fisherman from the Ethel May, a fishing vessel that capsized Sunday evening, local agencies and community members continued to scour Willapa Bay for signs of the lost man. On Facebook Tuesday morning, Pacific County Sheriff’s Office said it was searching for a man named Bryson Fitch. Fitch, 25, a longtime fisherman, husband and father of three young children, remained missing after the 46-foot crab boat Ethel May sank in heavy seas near Willapa Bay Sunday night. An extended search by the Coast Guard and state and local agencies was suspended Monday evening. “Please don’t stop searching. He is out there,” McKenzie Salas, Fitch’s wife, wrote on Facebook. “He is a fighter. Please keep looking. We need to bring him home. Anyone and everyone please.” >click to read< 12:34
If You Eat Dungeness Crab, Please Help This Family (or even if you don’t, but can help)
Sunday, February 5th was another day in the long life of the F/V Ethel May, a wooden 46-foot crabber built in 1948 in South Bend, Washington, but it was to be her last. Crews from U.S. Coast Guard Station Grays Harbor and Air Station Astoria responded to the sinking after an emergency beacon was activated and the wife of one of the men called 911 to report an emergency onboard. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from the air station was able to rescue two crewmen from a life raft at about 8:10 p.m. Unfortunately, the Ethel May had a crew of three, so one did not come home, and the official search was called off at 5:30pm Monday after almost a day of looking methodically. The name of the missing fisherman is Bryson Fitch, and he leaves behind a wife and three young children (aged 6, 4 and 4 months). >click to read< 10:03
‘We need help bringing him home:’ Family remains hopeful as search for missing crabber continues
After a crabbing boat with a three-man crew sank near Willapa Bay Sunday night, the U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for the one man who remains missing, but his family won’t give up hope. The Coast Guard rescued two of the three men, but did not find 24-year-old Bryson Fitch, a father of three. The Coast Guard on Twitter posted a video and said a helicopter crew from Astoria, Oregon, hoisted two people from a life raft into the helicopter during rough weather and large waves. It was then that Fitch’s family got the call no one wants to hear. >click to read< 07:43
UPDATED: Search Suspended. Coast Guard, partner agencies save 2, search for missing man near Willapa Bay entrance
The Coast Guard and other agencies are searching for a missing man who was aboard a vessel in distress Sunday off the coast of Washington near the Willapa Bay entrance. Watchstanders at the Thirteenth Coast Guard District in Seattle received an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon transmission Sunday at approximately 7:30 p.m. from the 46-foot crabbing vessel Ethel May near the Willapa Bay Entrance. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River in Warrenton, Oregon, were notified that the wife of one of the men aboard the vessel called 911 to report an emergency aboard the vessel. Video, >click to read< 18:50
Updated: Search for Missing Fisherman Suspended – The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies suspended search efforts at 5:30 p.m. Monday evening for a missing man in Willapa Bay, Washington. Rescue crews completed 18 different search patterns, covering 290 sq. miles during over 15-hours of searching. >click to read< 13:51
New Coast Guard swimmer saves man’s life after wave rolls yacht
A newly minted Coast Guard rescue swimmer saved a man’s life Friday at the mouth of the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington state just after a giant wave rolled the yacht he was piloting and threw him into the surf. The agency was able to triangulate roughly where the call was coming from, and Coast Guard crews on vessels and in a helicopter who happened to be training nearby responded. The rescue swimmer who was on his first rescue just after graduating from the Coast Guard’s rescue swimmer program, was lowered from the helicopter by a cable. As he neared the vessel, the man on board climbed onto the stern, preparing to get into the water. Video, >click to read< 08:17
Coast Guard rescues 3 boaters near Pascagoula, Mississippi
The Coast Guard rescued three boaters Monday after their vessel began taking on water near Pascagoula, Mississippi. Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders received a distress alert at 8:11 a.m. Monday from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) approximately 11 miles southeast of Pascagoula. The EPIRB was registered to a 50-foot commercial fishing vessel, F/V Dat Parker. The boatcrew located the sinking vessel with one boater in a life raft and the other two boaters standing on the bow. Photos, >click to read< 21:45
Rough Sea Conditions Hamper Efforts to Salvage Fishing Boat at Santa Cruz Island
Efforts to salvage a commercial fishing boat that ran aground on Santa Cruz Island earlier this month have been halted by stormy weather, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Speranza Marie, carrying 16,000 pounds of squid and some 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, hit the shoreline near Chinese Harbor at about 2 a.m. on Dec. 15. Six crew members were on board, and all were rescued without injury by another fishing boat. Efforts have been underway since then to salvage the vessel, which is owned by Ocean Angel VI LLC. >click to read< 07:57
F/V Speranza Marie: Diesel Spills from Grounded Fishing Vessel at Santa Cruz Island
Diesel fuel containment from a boat carrying 16,000 pounds of squid continues off Santa Cruz Island, the Unified Command responding to the spill reported Friday night. The F/V Speranza Marie held about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel and an unknown amount of hydraulic fuel when it hit shore at Chinese Harbor around 2 a.m. on December 15. The island is about 27 miles directly south of the City of Santa Barbara and the largest of the Channel Islands. Global Diving and Salvage is working to remove the fuel and stabilize the ship with the help of Tow Boat USA, the Unified Command reported in a press statement. >click to read< 15:29
Photo Update: Coast Guard responds to fishing vessel aground on Santa Cruz Island
The Coast Guard, state, and local agencies are responding to a fishing vessel that ran aground on Santa Cruz Island Thursday morning. Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach watchstanders received a report from Vessel Assist Ventura that the fishing vessel Speranza Marie, a 60-foot fishing vessel with six people aboard and carrying roughly 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, ran aground in Chinese Harbor on Santa Cruz Island at approximately 2 a.m. A good Samaritan fishing vessel responded to the incident and safely transferred the six crewmembers to their boat without injury and transported them to Ventura. Photos, >click to read the rest< 13:46
Washburn & Doughty boat with East Boothbay chief mate rescue 2 drifting fishermen
At the 11:30 watch change, Goodwin had just come to the pilothouse to relieve the captain, when the captain noticed something in the distance. “Is that a flare?” he asked. Goodwin checked using binoculars and answered, “It’s a life raft.” The small life raft with two fishermen from Destin, Florida was 1.25 nautical miles away. One of the men was standing up in the raft waving a flare. As the Linda Moran’s crew would later learn, that flare was the last of six the fishermen had. The rest were already used to try to signal ships during the two and a half days they drifted in the Gulf of Mexico. 11 photos, >click to read< 08:08
Coast Guard Coast Guard medevacs fisherman 23 miles off the coast of San Francisco
The Coast Guard medically evacuated a 63-year-old male off the fishing vessel F/V New Huck Finn approximately 23 miles southwest of Point Reyes, Friday. (Video, click the image) Crewmembers from the fishing vessel F/V New Huck Finn contacted Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders around 10:15 a.m., reporting a crew member was in need of medical assistance due to symptoms relating to a cardiac event. Video, >click to read/watch< 21:23
Busted! – Coast Guard, NOAA seize illegally caught fish near Homer, Alaska
A Coast Guard law enforcement boarding team seized illegally caught fish near Homer, Alaska, Wednesday. The Naushon crew seized the catch and escorted the vessel to Homer where a NOAA OLE representative took possession of the catch upon arrival at the pier. A Coast Guard Cutter Naushon boarding team discovered halibut aboard a commercial IFQ halibut vessel that was not documented in the vessel’s logbook. Additionally, the halibut was filleted to where the size and number of fish could not be determined. >click to continue< 15:49
