So far, the Shell Oil drilling rig Kulluk is reported to have remained intact with no observed leaks of diesel fuel, lube or hydraulic oil, after grounding on Alaska’s Sitkalidak Island on Monday night. The video below was taken yesterday by … Continue reading
Tag Archives: US Coast Guard
I have great admiration for those whose successfully navigate the rocks and shoals of the bureaucracy in order to get anything done around New York harbor. A Coast Guard press release brought this to mind. The US Coast Guard is … Continue reading
Sadly, the US Coast Guard has suspended the search for Captain Robin Walbridge, who was washed off the HMS Bounty as she sank in high seas on Monday off the coast of North Carolina. Claudene Christian, 42, was also lost overboard. … Continue reading
Update: from the Bounty Facebook page 7:10 AM – At 0430 today the Captain ordered all hands to abandon ship. There are 17 Crew on board and at this moment all crew are accounted for and are in Life rafts. The … Continue reading
Two hundred and twenty years ago today on August 4th, 1790, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton established the Revenue Cutter Service, predecessor to the United States Coast Guard. (In 1915, the service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and adopted its current name.) So … Continue reading
For those in trouble at sea, technology has dramatically increased the chances of survival. Satellite phones, GPS transducers, EPIRBs and the like have made it possible to call for help across the vastness of the world’s oceans. Some things haven’t changed however. When help arrives, chances are, it will … Continue reading
Last week we posted about a distress call to the Coast Guard reporting a yacht explosion off the New Jersey shore, which was an apparent hoax. The search and rescue operation which resulted is estimated to have cost over $300,000. Now the Coast … Continue reading
We consider AMVER to be one of the true “unsung heroes” of the maritime world. AMVER is the “Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue” system run by the US Coast Guard. Established in 1958, it is a computer-based voluntary global ship reporting system used worldwide … Continue reading
The USCGC Stratton is the Coast Guard’s newest cutter. Built at Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Miss., she was acquired by the Coast Guard on September 2, 2011 and officially commissioned on March 31, 2012. Roughly a month after the 418′ foot … Continue reading
This sounds like the teaser from a thriller or murder mystery. Unfortunately, it is all too real. Last Thursday, shortly after 7 AM, coworkers found the bodies of US Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Jim Hopkins and retired Boatswain Mate Chief Rich Belisle, working as a civilian contractor, at … Continue reading
When US Coast Guard inspectors came aboard the bulk carrier M/V Aquarosa in Baltimore in February of 2011, a junior engineer slipped them a note, which read, “I have sometheng to till you but secret.” The engineer, Salvatore Lopez, from the Philippines, had collected evidence of the illegal … Continue reading
In two separate incidents, US Coast Guard Air Station Kodiac crews rescued eleven fisherman from two boats on Wednesday. The 58-foot fishing vessel Kimberly ran aground on Portage Bay southwest of Kodiak on the Alaska Peninsula Tuesday night around 8 p.m. but severe weather prevented the Coast … Continue reading
For roughly the last fifty years, the US Coast Guard regulations for the loading and stability of passenger vessels has assumed an average weight of 160 pounds per person. Conceding to the reality of a more corpulent population, the regulations were updated last month, increasing the … Continue reading
On Saturday morning, the 39′ sailboat, Sanctuary, in heavy weather 256 miles northeast of Bermuda, was hit by several breaking waves, lost power and began slowly taking on water. The crew of five, four men and one woman, called for help. The US Coast Guard … Continue reading
Navy Times is reporting that seven US Coast Guard personnel have been found guilty of various charges; including indecent exposure, assault and disorderly conduct; related to tying down and stripping fellow crew members aboard the cutter Venturous. The hazing incidents took … Continue reading
The US Coast Guard has updated its regulations, increasing the average weight per passenger for stability and loading calculations of tour and charter boats from 160 pounds to 185 pounds. Lard ahoy! Coast Guard estimates average weight of cruise passengers has gone up by … Continue reading
Whale of a skimmer not ready to attack Gulf oil after weekend of testing The behemoth Taiwanese oil skimmer, A Whale, is not yet ready attack the Gulf of Mexico oil spill after a weekend of testing proved inconclusive, said … Continue reading
The Royal Navy in joint operations with the US Coast Guard off South America has seized a £240 million cocaine shipment – the biggest haul in Royal Navy history. HMS Iron Duke’s crew sank the 138ft drug boat with bursts of cannon fire … Continue reading
CNN reported that the US Coast Guard had fired shots at a passenger vessel on the Potomac River a short distance from where 9/11 memorial events were taking place at the Pentagon. Later reports say that the incident was in … Continue reading