Tag Archives: EPIRB
A Life Remembered: Captain John Allen Baker,1955 2025
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t is with broken hearts that we share the passing of our precious brother, Captain John Allen Baker, age 69 who lost his life at sea February 7, 2025. John was born December 9, 1955, in Canso, Nova Scotia to Calvin Howard Baker and Virginia Margaret O’Hearn. Having no biological children, we wish to acknowledge his commitment to his stepchildren, step-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He loved them all, would wrap them in a wonderful hug and generously shared all his resources (including free fish) with them. John’s career and entire life was devoted to the Commercial Offshore Fishery. There is so much more about John that most will never know. He shared his talents, knowledge and passion with anyone who was interested and mentored many fishermen during his life. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:05
‘He was a legend, one of the best’: North Atlantic claims two N.S. fishermen
On Thursday evening, Jerome Wilson got a call from the sea. It was his friend, Capt. John Baker. The Fortune Pride had a full load of silver hake aboard and was steaming for Riverport. “He hadn’t been in Riverport for a while, so he was going to wait until morning and steam up the river in the light,” remembered Wilson, who does mechanical work on fishing boats. “Wanted me to meet him there, check a few things over. He was happy. There was no indication he expected trouble.” “I’ve never felt a pain like this in my life,” said Rejeanne Hollett on Sunday, who went from planning her wedding to crewman Phil MacInnis on Thursday morning to planning his funeral that evening. “I would give anything to have him back. Anything.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:19
2 crew members dead after fishing boat capsizes near Halifax, 2 others released from hospital
Two crew members are dead after their fishing boat capsized late Thursday off Halifax amid four-metre waves and strong winds. Two others who were pulled from the frigid waters after the 18-metre Fortune Pride foundered have been released from hospital. Jose Teixeira, whose company owns the vessel, confirmed in a brief interview that Capt. John Allen Baker was one of the deceased. He said the vessel’s deckhand also died. Three crew members were pulled from the water on Thursday night and one at 11:30 a.m. AT Friday, according to Kelsey Marshall of the Canadian Coast Guard.Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 19:23
UPDATE: Fourth crew member rescued off N.S. coast after fishing vessel capsizes
The fourth and final missing crew member has been recovered and is being flown to hospital in Halifax after an 18-metre fishing vessel capsized off the coast of Nova Scotia Thursday night. In a Friday morning update, Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Halifax said the crew member was found in a life raft by search and rescue technicians and was unresponsive when taken onboard a Cormorant helicopter. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:45
1 person missing, 3 others brought to shore after fishing boat capsizes near Halifax
One person is missing and three have been brought to shore after a fishing vessel capsized near Halifax Thursday night. The vessel in question is the 18-metre Fortune Pride. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax said Friday that it responded to an emergency beacon at around 10 p.m. The location of the beacon was approximately 18 kilometres southeast of Sambro, N.S. Two coast guard vessels, the CCGS Hare Bay and the CCGS Sir William Alexander, were involved in the rescue efforts, in addition to a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules fixed-wing aircraft, said the JRCC. The JRCC said the CCGS Hare Bay “recovered” three people, two conscious and the third unconscious. They were all taken to hospital. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:08
NTSB Releases Report of Sinking of Commercial Fishing Vessel off Georgia Coast
The National Transportation Safety Board issued Marine Investigation Report 23-24 Tuesday for its investigation of the sinking of the commercial fishing vessel Carol Jean off the coast of Georgia. On March 21, while anchored with no one on board, the Carol Jean flooded and sank in the Atlantic Ocean near Tybee Island, Georgia. After the vessel’s emergency position indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, activated, the US Coast Guard responded and found a debris field where the beacon’s signal originated. There was no pollution reported. The loss of the Carol Jean was estimated at $250,000. The owner/captain of the Carol Jean purchased another commercial fishing vessel and planned to use the Carol Jean to tow the second vessel to Valona, Georgia. >>more, click to read<< 14:22
Maine Lawmaker/Lobsterman and Sternman ‘lucky to be alive’ after a “giant rogue wave” from Lee flips lobster boat
What does a lobsterman do when faced with a wall of water bearing down on him, his boat and his crew? Billy Bob Faulkingham had just finished hauling traps near Turtle Island on Friday, Sept. 15, one day before Hurricane Lee was poised to hit the Maine coast, when his 40-foot lobster boat, 51, was flipped upside down by a huge wave that seemingly came out of nowhere. “We got hit by a massive rogue wave,” he told The American. “It rolled my 40-foot boat like a toy and landed her on top of us. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Faulkingham survived without harm, while his sternman Alex Polk suffered a broken arm and a gash on his head. His lobster boat currently rests at the bottom of the ocean. He estimated 51 was in about 50 feet of water when the 40-foot wave struck. “God was with us,” he said. >>click to read<< 17:21
Boaties rescued off Fraser Island
The Bundaberg RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew has assisted in a mission to help four trawler crew members, who set off an emergency beacon, after their boat was damaged off K’gari (Fraser Island) overnight. The rescue crew was tasked by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to locate the 15 metre vessel, around 2.45am Monday morning, after its EPIRB (Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio) was activated. The four people on board reportedly deployed a life boat as a precaution, in case they needed to abandon their trawler, which had damage to its hull and propeller.>click to continue< 21:37
Report on deaths of 4 fishermen in Placentia Bay leaves family still looking for answers
The wife of a fisherman who died when the Sarah Anne fishing boat sank nearly two years ago says her family is still without answers, following the release of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s investigation report Wednesday. Melissa Mayo-Norman said Wednesday was an emotional day for her and the other families, who are still mourning the May 2020 loss of the Sarah Anne’s four-man crew of Scott Norman, 35, Mayo-Norman’s husband, Eddie Joe Norman, 67, Jody Norman, 42, and Isaac Kettle, 33, all from St. Lawrence, on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula. “We were hoping for some closure, which we didn’t receive,” Mayo-Norman said. “Unfortunately we were given no answers as to what may have happened that day, only what recommendations they could give for the Newfoundland fishermen.” > click to read < 09:11
TSB Report: F/V Sarah Anne likely capsized suddenly, causing the deaths of all 4 men aboard.
Clifford Harvey, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s director of marine investigation, said the absence of life-saving equipment and distress signals support the conclusion that the vessel’s capsizing took the crew by surprise. The crew, skipper Eddie Joe Norman, 67; his son, Scott Norman, 35; his nephew, Jody Norman, 42, and Isaac Kettle, 33, left St. Lawrence, on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula, shortly after midnight on May 25, 2020, to fish for snow crab in Placentia Bay. The vessel was last seen 10:30 a.m. that day and was reported missing at 7:45 p.m. when it was overdue for its return. Harvey said the Sarah Anne was not equipped with a vessel monitoring system or an automatic identification system. >click to read< 11:40
Peterhead fisherman who died after trawler Njord capsizes has been identified
Ronald McKinnon, originally from Peterhead, was one of three crew members airlifted to Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen after inhaling fumes. Five more of the crew were then rescued by an offshore vessel. The Norwegian Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre scrambled a helicopter after the alarm was raised at 1:39pm on Sunday. The trawler was about 100 nautical miles west of Stavanger when it got into difficulty. Now tributes have been paid to Ronald on social media, with the fisherman being hailed as a “true friend”. >click to read<, >and click here<15:18
Scottish fishing trawler Njord capsizes off Norway leaving one dead
One person has died after a Scottish fishing vessel with eight people on board capsized off Norway. The Norwegian Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (NJRCC) launched a rescue operation after the alarm was raised on Sunday. Rescuers found the eight crew standing on the keel of the capsized vessel Njord which got into difficulty about 100 miles west of Stavanger in the North Sea. Three people were winched into a search and rescue helicopter and were flown to Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen where one of them subsequently died. >click to read<,– and >click here to read< 07:37
Coast Guard rescues 4 from a life raft 69 miles west of St. Petersburg
A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew rescued four survivors from a life raft Monday after their fishing vessel F/V Right Stuff sank 69 miles west of St. Petersburg. Rescued were: Matt Whites, 42, Heather Whites, 40, Nicole Mendez, 22, and Mickey Maguire, 26. The aircrew arrived on scene, hoisted the survivors aboard the aircraft and transported them to Air Station Clearwater where Emergency Medical Services personnel awaited. “This event highlights the importance of having proper survival gear and the thorough preparation by the crew of the vessel,” Video, >click to watch< 13″02
Sussex RNLI remember F/V Joanna C tragedy on first anniversary
38-year-old Robert Morley and 26-year-old Adam Harper drowned when their boat sank on the 21st of November 2020. The captain of the boat, Dave Bickerstaff, was pulled from the water after he was found clinging to a lifebuoy. The 45ft scalloping boat put out an emergency distress beacon at around 6am, with two RNLI lifeboats and a helicopter joining the search, which at one point involved 17 vessels and was one of the largest ever undertaken on the Newhaven coast. photos, >click to read<08:11
Coast Guard rescues 2 from vessel on fire, taking on water 9 miles off Bulls Bay
A Coast Guard Station Charleston rescue crew saved two people after their fishing vessel caught fire and began taking on water approximately 9 miles east of Bulls Bay, Friday. The captain of the vessel, F/V Strictly Business, hailed Sector Charleston watchstanders via marine radio Channel 16 at 4:03 a.m., stating his 45-foot fishing vessel was on fire and taking on water. The captain activated his Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and switched to his satellite phone after losing communication on his VHF radio >click to read< 11:49
EPIRB alert launches Coast Guard rescue of a fisherman in a life raft Saturday, offshore of Grays Harbor.
At 11:39 a.m., Friday, watchstanders at the 13th Coast Guard District Command Center received an emergency position indicating radio beacon activation alert for the fishing vessel F/V Ruby Lily approximately 132 miles from Grays Harbor. Watchstanders launched crews from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento and the Coast Guard Cutter Alert to respond. A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon in the vicinity of the vessel self diverted to respond to the scene and reported one person aboard the life raft. The man aboard, who was also the owner of the Ruby Lily, reported he was safe in the rigid hull life raft with two weeks of food and water. A good Samaritan vessel in the area offered assistance, but the man on the life raft reportedly refused assistance from the good Samaritan. >click to read< 07:39
F/V Falling Star reportedly was not carrying an EPIRB aboard the vessel
Glenn Tuttle, co-manager of boatwatch.org, says men on the ill-fated Falling Star lobster fishing vessel could all have been rescued had the boat been equipped with an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB). Ten of the 15-member crew were rescued Thursday and the other five are now said to be dead. F/V Falling Star was returning from dry docking/routine maintenance overseas when it went missing on July 6. According to Tuttle, had there been an EPIRB installed on the vessel more men could have been saved. >click to read< 08:07
Video: Coast Guard rescued three fishermen 72 miles southeast of Montauk Sunday evening.
Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound watchstanders received a VHF radio call at approximately 21:30 Sunday from the F/V Nite Nurse, reporting that the vessel was taking on water and sinking. The Coast Guard issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and dispatched a Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, a HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crew, and Coast Guard Cutter Kingfisher to the scene. >video, click to read< 18:17
This is Bryan Mires’ story: An improbable Seacor Power rescue after emergency locator failed
As he drifted for two hours in mountainous waves in the Gulf of Mexico, Bryan Mires kept thinking about his wife and daughter. He didn’t know whether he would live or die. But he was carrying an emergency transmitter to alert radio operators of his position, and he thought his chances depended on one of them detecting him. The first mate on the Seacor Power lift boat, Mires had boarded the vessel at Port Fourchon on April 13, bound with 18 other crew members for a Talos Energy offshore oil platform about 100 miles away near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Their job was to deliver equipment. >click to read< 15:07
ROV introduced into search for F/V Chief William Saulis and missing fishermen
On Friday the RCMP, in partnership with the Canadian Coast Guard who provided a platform, and Canada Border Services Agency providing a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV), were on the water continuing the search. The search did not locate the missing vessel, a Jan. 2 media release update reads. Due to unfavourable and deteriorating conditions, there is no search activity happening on Jan. 2 “Expectations are to return to the water Jan. 3 to resume the search, weather and water conditions permitting,” the RCMP says. >click to read< 07:07
For commercial fishermen, November is the cruelest month
November trips can be treacherous, and the forecast was unnerving, 9-foot swells in the afternoon and gusts as strong as 40 miles per hour. But the 56-foot F/V Leonardo, its diesel engines groaning after a series of repairs, steamed out to fishing grounds 24 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. It would not return, and three fishermen, Mark Cormier Jr., Gerald Bretal, and his step-son Xavier Vega, were never found. Ernesto Garcia, the lone survivor, was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter crew at dusk, about two hours after the ship capsized. >click to read< 07:33
Fishing Boat Sinks 24 off Vineyard – November 24, 2019. The fishing boat F/V Leonardo out of New Bedford sank Sunday afternoon 24 miles southwest of the Vineyard. 
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued one mariner from the vessel. A search and rescue operation is underway for three others. Sector Southeast New England received an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) signal at 3:18 pm, F/V Leonard, >click for 10 posts<
Marine Board of Investigation: Coast Guard looking for details regarding F/V Scandies Rose ahead of public hearing
After almost a year of investigation into the Dec. 31, 2019, sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose that left only two survivors, investigators are still looking for information before a public hearing in February. The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation will hold a public hearing into the loss of the F/V Scandies Rose from Feb. 22 through March 5. The public hearing will be recorded and livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person. The MBI is looking into why the 130-foot crabber sank near Sutwik Island on New Year’s Eve, which resulted in the deaths of five crew members,,, The MBI also has the testimonies of the two survivors, Dean Gribble Jr. and John Lawler, who were found floating in high seas and freezing temperatures. >click to read< 13:25
Float-free EPIRB deadline approaches for Australian commercial vessels
Commercial vessel owners and operators are being urged to act now to ensure their vessels are fitted with float-free Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) before the New Year deadline. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) legislated changes requiring certain commercial vessels to carry float-free EPIRBs from 1 January 2021 following the deaths of 14 commercial fishers and divers between 2015 and 2017. >click to read< 14:49
Coast Guard hoists man clinging to a piece of debris from water in Union Bay, Alaska
KODIAK, Alaska – The Coast Guard rescued a 70-year-old man from the waters of Union Bay, Alaska, northwest of Meyers Chuck, Sunday. A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted the man, who was in the water clinging to a piece of debris. “What saved this man’s life was his essential survival equipment,” said Lt. Justin Neal, a helicopter pilot from Air Station Sitka. “He had an emergency position indicating radio beacon registered in his name that allowed us to find him quickly, and his survival suit kept him warm long enough for us to rescue him.” Weather conditions at the time of the incident were up to 57 mph winds with 10 foot seas. >click to watch< 07:57
A man on board the fishing vessel Irony, fell into the water and was found clinging to a piece of debris by the US Coast Guard Sunday – >click to read<
Coast Guard assists sinking fishing boat off Key West
Coast Guard rescue crews assisted a 73-foot commercial fishing boat after it started taking on water about 46 miles northwest of Key West. The F/V Kayden Nicole’s emergency positioning indicating radio beacon alerted Coast Guard watchstanders that the three person crew was in distress. Station Key West’s 45-foot Response Boat crew arrived on scene and transferred a F/V Kayden Nicole to the fishing crew. >click to read< 13:53
Three Commercial Fishermen rescued from life raft off the NSW south coast
Coast Guard rescues fisherman as commercial fishing vessel sinks near Columbia River entrance
The Coast Guard rescued a fisherman from the water Tuesday morning after his vessel began taking on water and sank near the Cape Disappointment bar. At 1:30 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River received a VHF-FM radio mayday call from a man aboard a 37-foot commercial fishing vessel taking on water near Cape Disappointment, identified as the Fishing Vessel F/V Brejoh. A Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew and a Sector Columbia River MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew responded. >click to read< 20:14:
This story has a Twist! F/V Jenny Lynn had been disabled since Monday.
A commercial fisherman was rescued Thursday by the Coast Guard after his vessel capsized in the Gulf of Mexico 18 miles west of the city. The Coast Guard received an emergency alert at 8:56 a.m. from the radio beacon of the Jenny Lynn,,, Robert Heart, 48, was clinging to a cooler near the sunken vessel in 3 to 4-foot seas and 15 mph winds. The Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback first made contact with the Jenny Lynn on Wednesday when it was sent to help a 15-year-old boy who had fallen ill onboard.,, >click to read< 19:02
Coast Guard rescues Commercial Fisherman from capsized vessel near St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Coast Guard rescued a man, Thursday, after his 36-foot commercial fishing vessel capsized 18 miles west of St. Petersburg. Rescued was Robert Heart, 48. Coast Guard Seventh District watchstanders received an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) alert at 8:56 a.m. for the commercial fishing vessel, F/V Jenny Lynn, homeported in Fort Myers. An Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was directed to launch, and they located the Jenny Lynn capsized. video, >click to read< 15:52
Doing everything right to save their own lives! Coast Guard rescues 2 from boat fire near Cape Lookout, N.C.
The Coast Guard rescued two people after their 35-foot fishing boat caught fire and began to take on water approximately 15 miles southeast of Cape Lookout, Thursday morning. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command center received a mayday call from a person aboard the 35-foot fishing boat Double G stating there was a fire onboard and they were taking on water. “The mariners did everything right to save their own lives by using the correct lifesaving equipment available to them, to include their VHF radio, life jackets, life raft, EPIRB, and strobe lights. The simple use of this equipment can mean the difference between life and death. <photo’s, >click to read< 15:12
