Coast Guard SAR

[BuoyJumper]

KATU.COM

Fire breaks out on Queen of the West,
crew members injured


 The Queen of the West is seen after being evacuated on Tuesday,
 April 8, 2008.    (Click on photo to view video)

By Jeff Jaeger and KATU Web Staff

MARYHILL, Wash. - An engine room fire aboard a large paddle-wheel cruise ship sailing on the Columbia River between The Dalles and John Day Locks prompted a mayday call and evacuation early Tuesday morning.

The fire broke out on the 230-foot Queen of the West about 11:40 p.m., and Coast Guard officials said they received a distress call from the vessel about 12:30 a.m.

At the time, the ship, which is styled as a vintage paddle-wheel-powered, flat-bottom riverboat, was near The Dalles with 124 passengers and 53 crew members aboard.

A nearby tugboat tied up its cargo barges and helped guide the disabled cruise ship to the Washington side of the Columbia River. The ship was lightly aground near Maryhill State Park Tuesday morning.

Passengers and crew were able to walk off the ship via the front gangplank.

No passengers were injured in the incident, and all passengers were safely evacuated. Four crew members who suppressed the engine room fire were treated for smoke inhalation.

No cause for the fire was immediately released. An initial environmental assessment indicated no oil spilled or other problems.

Passengers and crew were taken to the nearby Skamania Lodge and will later be bussed to their destination. The ship was expected to be taken downriver to Klickitat for inspection and repair.

An investigation is continuing.
Original Article

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The Rest Of The Story:



Rescue swimmer puts life on the line
The Coast Guard's Ron Tremain, one of the lifesavers on the scene
during a sternwheeler fire, has the rare qualities needed for a tough job

Saturday, April 12, 2008
LORI TOBIAS
The Oregonian Staff

WARRENTON:  The alarm blasted across the Coast Guard survival shop at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday, jolting rescue swimmer Ron Tremain from a sound sleep. A cruise ship with 125 people was on fire 175 miles up the Columbia River. He pulled on his dry suit and grabbed a life raft, extra oxygen and his fire resistant flight suit.

In five minutes, Tremain and a crew of four were on a Sikorsky MH-60J helicopter as it lifted off the tarmac at the Coast Guard Air Base along U.S. 101 in Warrenton. Ice made it too dangerous to fly directly over the mountains, so the twin-engined Jayhawk screamed upriver at 138 mph in the dark.

Tremain considered what might lie ahead: best case scenario, the fire is already out; worst case, the cruise ship is burning and people are abandoning ship. If so, it would be this 40-year-old father of three's job to save everyone he can by boarding a burning ship or plunging into the murky river.

Ninety minutes later, the crew reached the Queen of the West. Tremain's best case scenario won out. The Jayhawk escorted the cruise ship and its passengers to safety, and seven hours after the alarm jolted him from sleep, Tremain was back at his desk.



A need for swimmers

Twenty-five years ago, there were no Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Then came the stormy night in February 1983, when the SS Marine Electric sank off the Virginia coast. The Coast Guard responded, lowering a basket to survivors struggling in the frigid Atlantic. But they were too hypothermic to help themselves. By the time the Coast Guard returned with a Navy swimmer, 31 of the 34 crewmen had perished.

The first Coast Guard rescue swimmers began training in 1984. Five years later, 22-year-old Ronnie L. Tremain -- a Salem boy who liked to swim but favored football, basketball and baseball -- became one of them.

"It was a job where you could help people, but it was an exciting job, too," he says of his decision. "And not everyone gets to swing under a helicopter at three o'clock in the morning."

Back then, not many recruits signed on to be aviation survival technicians -- their official title -- and of those who did, at least half dropped out or failed, according to Master Chief Scott Dyer, one of the first rescue swimmers in the program. Training includes eight weeks of intense physical work and hours upon hours in the water, often with a fellow recruit clamped around your head.

"We test people physically, but you don't know what is going on mentally with them," Dyer says. "Some people can swim like fish, but they can't handle people jumping on them in the water."

Today, thanks largely to Kevin Costner's portrayal of an aging rescue swimmer in "The Guardian" and some well-publicized rescues during Hurricane Katrina, everyone wants to be a rescue swimmer. But once in training, that changes quickly, and the attrition rate hovers at 50 percent. Today, there are about 325 Coast Guard rescue swimmers nationwide.

"I tell them, I don't care if you make it through the training or not," Tremain says. "I do care if I am in the water, are you going to be able to save me?"

It has been 18 years since Tremain's first mission: the search for a drowned shrimper off the Texas coast. Because the Coast Guard rotates rescue swimmers every four years, his career has taken him to Houston; Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska; North Bend and now Astoria, where he is the chief and overseeing eight other swimmers.

Five-foot-10, blue-eyed, with mandatory short hair, Tremain is known as a joker and prankster.

"But he's very serious about what he does," says Chief Thomas Beaudry, whose job it is to make sure rescue swimmers are up to standards and who has known Tremain since 1989. "He's a very strong swimmer, very intelligent, and he's able to think outside the box and on his feet. He's phenomenal."

Tremain's sparsely furnished office in the one-story cinder block building at Air Station Astoria tells much about him. Photos depict his passion for photography and the outdoors: rafting, skiing, hunting and hiking. There's a shot of his wedding at Timberline Lodge to his second wife, Pam, and one each of his three children, ages 11 months through 19 years.

Down the hall in the pump room, the head of a moose Tremain shot in Alaska keeps an eye on the mementos swimmers hang from their missions -- more than 300 last year -- including the broken surfboard with the scratch marks tallying rescues from Ecola State Park's Indian Beach. Tremain's count: two hikers, eight surfers.

They are the only statistics Tremain knows.

After a while, he says, sitting at his desk beneath the ceiling fan painted in the fashion of a helicopter tail rotor, they all run together: the late-night alarms, the storms, high seas, the equipment failures, the saves, the losses.

But the day after the Queen of the West mission and still wet from the shower following his morning workout, Tremain admits there is still one that sticks with him.

Tremain had been a rescue swimmer just one year. Two divers, recent college graduates, were missing off the coast of Texas. The crew searched all afternoon and into the next morning. In another five minutes, they would call it off and return to the station and the divers would be given up for dead.

That's when Tremain spotted them.
"One was deceased, and the other was hanging onto his buddy," he recalls. "They were being circled by sharks, and a barracuda was chewing on the deceased. I felt good that I could save one. If I had not spotted that guy, no would have found him."

Days spent . . . sewing?

Although some days the rescue swimmer's life mirrors a big adventure film, the reality tends to be far less glamorous.

A rescue swimmer's primary duty is maintaining rescue equipment, and most days are spent behind industrial-sized sewing machines, repairing and crafting survival gear. Once or more a week, they are on 24-hour duty, living at the survival shop, ready for any mission.

They must pass a physical once a month and complete a minimum of five chin-ups and pull-ups, 60 sit-ups, 50 push-ups and swimming tests, including 25 yards under water without taking a breath. And then, three times more.

But those minimums are meant for someone who is injured, trying to get back to speed, Tremain clarifies. "We go for the maximum we can do."

And at least once a week, the swimmers pull on dry suits and flippers, gloves and hoods, and jump or rappel from the hovering Jayhawk to train in the churning surf of the Pacific Ocean.

As dangerous as it all seems, Tremain insists there is no fear.

"If you get scared, you put your crew in jeopardy, you put yourself in jeopardy. We could 'What if?' about things all day long."

Then he reconsiders. It turns out, there is one thing.

"You get complacent. That's my biggest scare. It's really easy to miss some little things. If you screw up, you're done."

Lori Tobias: 541-265-9394; loritobias@aol.com
Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

Video above and text of Senator Lisa Murkowski's address to the U.S. Senate
commending the U.S. Coast Guard's actions in the ALASKA RANGER SAR.

Ms. MURKOWSKI:  Mr. President, many of my fellow Americans are very aware of the exhilaration but also the dangers and risks of commercial fishing in Alaska's Bering Sea. The pictures and the stories--and even the sounds--are brought into our living rooms every week on the Discovery Channel program ``The Deadliest Catch.'' Many have seen it.

When the Bering Sea fishing fleet finds itself in trouble, they rely on the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard to truly make order from the chaos. These stories have not escaped Hollywood's attention. It is not only seen on ``The Deadliest Catch,'' but there was a 2006 feature film, ``The Guardian,'' starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, which paid tribute to the Coast Guard search and rescue teams based at Air Station Kodiak in Alaska. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is home to aircrews
and rescue swimmers who endure some of the [Page: S2219]
harshest winds and seas in the world. They put their own lives on the line every day so that others may live.

The events that were depicted in ``The Guardian'' were fictional, but the events that transpired this past Easter morning in the Bering Sea were very real. I rise today to honor the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard who participated in efforts to rescue the 47-member crew of the fishing vessel Alaska Ranger. As a direct result of these heroic efforts, 42 members of the Ranger's crew survived. There were no Coast Guard lives lost. In the words of RADM Arthur Brooks, commander
of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District, it was ``one of the greatest search and rescue efforts in modern history.''

Let me kind of paint the scene for you. It was 2:52 a.m. local time on Easter Sunday, March 23, that the Alaska Ranger, a Seattle-based factory trawler, radioed the Coast Guard Communications Station Kodiak with a distress call. The vessel at that time was located 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor at the end of the Aleutian Chain. The vessel was taking on water. There were 25-knot winds and seas 6 to 8 feet high.

The Coast Guard immediately launched a rescue effort. There was a cutter, two helicopters, and a C-130. The crew of the Ranger had to abandon ship before the first Coast Guard asset arrived.

First to arrive on the scene is a Coast Guard Jayhawk Rescue Helicopter, deployed from St. Paul Island, located about 230 miles to the north of where the Alaska Ranger was at the time.

The Jayhawk carried a crew of four men. There was no backup. The Jayhawk arrives on the scene about 5:30 a.m. This is about 2 1/2 hours after the first distress call. This helps put in perspective the distances with which we are dealing. By this point in time, the Alaska Ranger has already sunk in the water. The vessel is completely gone. It has already sunk in water that is more than 6,300 feet deep.

The air crew flies in and looks upon this sea of flashing strobe lights. Keep in mind, this is 5:30 in the morning. It is still dark. They have wind and sleet and waves coming up, and they see this sea of flashing strobe lights, probably a mile end to end. They are looking down at this scene through the helicopter thinking there is a light there: Is that a liferaft? Yet another light and another light. Each light is a member of the Ranger's crew wearing a survival suit. Some are in liferafts,
but others were literally in this human chain stretching almost a mile in length. Others are floating alone. The water temperature in the sea is about 32 degrees.

Rescue swimmer O'Brien Hollow is lowered into the water to triage the survivors. One by one, he positions the survivors to be hoisted into the helicopter above. The helicopter is tossing above in these very heavy winds. Hollow is tethered to the helicopter from above.

We also have then the Coast Guard cutter Munro. It has been diverted from its position 130 nautical miles south of the incident. It is racing to the scene at the speed of about 30 knots.

The Munro carries a Dolphin rescue helicopter which lifts off the Munro some 80 miles before the cutter arrives at the scene.

Rescue swimmer Abram Heller is lowered into the water and begins to gather victims to be hoisted into the basket to be lifted up into the helicopter. Heller stays in the water to make room on the Dolphin for survivors.

One has to remember, they have some 47 men in the water. They are trying to lift them into the basket and then into the helicopter, but the helicopter can only accommodate so many people. The rescue swimmer is saying: I am going to stay down here; move this group to safety.

The Jayhawk then departs the scene for the Munro, but the Jayhawk cannot land on the cutter's deck because it is too big. So the Jayhawk crew hoists the survivors down to the Munro's deck one by one. Just as they have been lifting survivors out of the sea into this helicopter that is pitching around in the air, they now have to be dropped down to the deck one at a time in the basket.

In the meantime, a fuel line is sent up from the Munro's deck to refuel the Jayhawk, and it then departs to the scene.

The Jayhawk recovers Heller, the rescue swimmer who has been down there with the survivors, and rescues more survivors. In total, the Jayhawk is responsible for saving 15 lives. The Dolphin saves five lives.

The third player in this supremely heroic effort is a Coast Guard C-130, which circled over the scene serving as an airborne coordination and communications platform.

The Coast Guard also received substantial assistance from the Ranger's sister fishing vessel, the Alaska Warrior. The Alaska Warrior also had been out on the Alaska fishing grounds. They left their fishing grounds to pick up 22 survivors from the Ranger who were in liferafts and then returned them to Dutch Harbor.

Unfortunately, four of the Ranger's crew members could not be saved. One still remains unaccounted for. The Coast Guard sent the Jayhawk and a C-130 back to the scene with fresh crews to search for the missing mariner but without success. The search for the missing crew member was suspended on Tuesday, March 25.

The Coast Guard uses the maritime phrase ``Bravo Zulu'' to recognize a job well done, and this was truly a job well done. While the Coast Guard rigorously trains its people to perform this mission, it is very rare to undertake a mission of this intensity and this complexity.

Rescue swimmers Hollow and Heller had participated in rescues before but nothing approaching this kind of a rescue. In fact, rescues of this nature are extremely rare. After very carefully examining the records dating back over 30 years, the Coast Guard could only find a couple mass rescue cases that were even remotely similar to what we experienced on Easter.

While dramatic search-and-rescue cases are no stranger to Alaska, most involve 10 victims or less. Others involve a much more orderly abandonment of a vessel. This was the case in 1980, when the cruise ship Prinsendam went down near Yakutat, AK. But large numbers of people abandoning ship directly into the water hardly ever happens. That is one more reason why this rescue effort was remarkable. But it is not the only reason.

The risks that were involved in this case were extreme. They had, again, darkness, extremely high winds, high seas, ice, freezing temperatures, extremely long distances from any supporting infrastructure, and all these conditions present unique hazards to the rescuers.

Success such as this could not occur without the commitment of a great many people. The crews of the Jayhawk, the Dolphin, and the Munro will long be remembered for their heroism.

Backing them were the watch standers at Coast Guard Communications Station Kodiak. These were the folks who answered the Alaska Ranger's mayday call. The C-130 crews, the Kodiak Air Station duty officers, and the District 17 command center controllers in Juneau also contributed. In total, something on the order of 170 Alaska-based Coast Guard men and women were involved in this effort.

ADM Thad Allen has already expressed ``Bravo Zulu'' to all the men and women involved with this effort. I am honored to take a few minutes from the Senate's day to praise these men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard on a job well done. Our Nation is always well served by these highly trained individuals who stand ``always ready.''
END

NOTE: Mrs. Murkowski's husband Frank the former Senator and Governor of Alaska is a Coastie veteran. 
Frank served on the 180-foot buoy tender Sorrel in the mid-1950s.  Read about Frank's Coast Guard
service by clicking on this LINK to the CG Reservist Magazine.  

Original Article

THANKS SQUARE KNOT ... It took some digging before I could confirm the story from the email.

[sparky]

Thanks bothof you for those stories...The Alaska one has given the coast guard a lot of positive, well deserved press.

The Paddle Wheeler thing...that boat has had nothing but problems...

I saw chopper yesterday going down the willamette river where it joins the Columbia.

Always enjoy seeing Coast Guard chopper, cutters, small boats out here in Oregon.

[BuoyJumper]

Coast Guard Honored For Rescue

POSTED: 4:06 am CDT April 14, 2008
UPDATED: 4:44 am CDT April 14, 2008

NEW ORLEANS -- Several members of the U.S. Coast Guard stationed in New Orleans and Venice are being honored after a life-saving rescue.

U.S. Coast Guard crews aboard helicopters and boats saved nine people from the sinking workboat "Lady Marie" in December.

The vessel struck an oil wellhead several miles out of Venice. Moments after getting the distress call from the Lady Marie's captain, the coast guard was on its way.

     
VENICE, La. - A Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter prepares to hoist a man injured in a workboat
accident approximately seven miles north of Main Pass, Dec. 11, 2007. Coast Guard crews
rescued nine people after the workboat Lady Marie struck and became lodged on a wellhead
near Venice, La. Four HH-65C rescue helicopter crews from Air Station New Orleans medevaced
six people from the workboat. Four men were flown to Air Station New Orleans where they were
met by ambulances and two others were flown directly to West Jefferson Memorial Hospital. A
rescue boat crew from Station Venice transported two men to shore. The captain is still on scene
with the workboat, along with another rescue boat crew from Station Venice. The Coast was
alerted to the emergency at around 5:10 a.m. by radio by the captain of the the Lady Marie.

"We knew we had a large supply vessel hit a well head at a high rate of speed so we knew we had injures, didn't know if there was any damage to the well head, so we were worried about natural gas leaks, maybe a fire, flooding, so everything is running through your head. What's possibly wrong I'll have to deal with," Justin Harris said.

The Lady Marie's crew and captain were rescued from the vessel and flown to local hospitals.

Being trained and prepared to respond to emergencies like this is why these Coast Guard personnel are being honored.

"I've been in the Coast Guard for 13 years, I love helping people I love the emergency service side of it, I've been a volunteer firefighter for 10 years, and I love taking it when someone's life is in chaos and turning it around and helping them out, " Kevin Brown said.

But for these heroes, it's not about the glory. It's just their job.

"The end result. Saving someone's life, " John Jamison said.

"The little things. Just someone saying thank you after you helped them. That makes it all worth while, " Justin Harris said.

Original Article

[sparky]

That is what I would describe as a "PRANG"...kinda dented the bow a bit.

[BuoyJumper]

Man rescued from sinking boat by CG Rescue Swimmer

         

[BuoyJumper]

Coast Guard rescues stranded Clearwater boaters
Sunday, April 20, 2008

PINELLAS COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- The Coast Guard rescued two boaters near Clearwater Beach Saturday afternoon.

According to officials, someone alerted the agency when he saw an unmanned boat going around in circles
in Clearwater Pass. Coast Guard boats arrived a short time later and began a search for two men who had
been in the stranded boat.


The Coast Guard rescue boat returns to land with the stranded boaters.

The Coast Guard says Gary Allan Platt of Clearwater and George Johnson of Palm Harbor had been treading
water without lifejackets for about three hours before they were found yesterday.  Platt told investigators
that he and Johnson were ejected from their 23-foot boat when it hit a wave at about 11 a.m.

Rescuers pulled Platt from the water at around 2:10 p.m., and Johnson was found about 15 minutes later.
Both men were taken to Largo Medical Center with minor injuries and then released.

[BuoyJumper]

Cape Cod Coast Guard crew saves sailors

By CAPE COD TIMES
April 22, 2008



A Cape Cod-based Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon Jet crew returned to the Cape Saturday night after participating in a harrowing rescue at sea while on assignment in Puerto Rico, officials said.

Using night vision goggles Tuesday, the Coast Guard crew spotted the crew of a South Korean cargo vessel in a life raft after their vessel sank 300 miles south of Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

The Coast Guard crew then aided the rescue of the 11 crew members, using the Motor Tanker Aegean Angel, which was in the area, officials said.

The Falcon crew first spotted the life raft that contained the 11 seamen from the Tel Tale II after the Coast Guard Sector San Juan Joint Rescue Sub Center received an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon distress signal from the vessel at 9:15 p.m.

Coast Guard pilots Lt. Heather Kuta, 30, originally from Rockville, Md., and Lt. Rachel Eldridge, 30, of St. Louis, were at the controls. Petty Officers Lucas Rodriguez, Brian Lightbourne, and Ian Collazo assisted. Rodriguez spotted the life raft.

"The Tel Tale II crew members had the right distress signaling equipment aboard the vessel and life raft, which allowed us to locate their signal 50 miles out, and once we found them, we were able to vector the Aegean Angel to their position," said Kuta, who has been stationed on the Cape since August 2006, in a statement.

The 11 Tel Tale II crew members were forced to abandon ship after waves bashed the starboard side, causing the cargo to shift. The vessel then lost its steering before finally capsizing and sinking.

According to Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Adam Young, Air Station Cape Cod regularly sends a rotation of Falcon Jet crews to Southern Florida and the Caribbean to participate in law enforcement and search-and-rescue missions.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

Pacific briefs:

Coast Guard, Navy team up in rescue
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, May 3, 2008

U.S. Coast Guard and Navy personnel this week rescued a stranded fisherman about 35 miles off Tinian, according to the U.S. Navy on Guam.

The 43-year-old man was rescued from a 17-foot Bayliner fishing boat on Tuesday, Navy spokesman Lt. Donnell Evans said Thursday. The man, whose name was unavailable, was taken to the Commonwealth Health Center on Saipan for treatment of dehydration, according to a Navy release.

The Coast Guard received a call about a missing boat around 8 p.m. Monday. Units that assisted in the rescue included Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, the USS Reuben James, the CGC Assateague, and three E-2C Hawkeyes from the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 117, according to the release.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

CourierPostOnline.com
                                     FROM SOUTH JERSEY TO YOU

Coast Guard rescues 7 lost in fog
CourierPOstOnline.com • May 5, 2008

A Coast Guard crew rescued seven people who were disoriented in the fog aboard a 22-foot boat Saturday two miles off the coast of Wildwood.

The Coast Guard received a call at 5 p.m. from the sport fishing boat Addiction reporting its GPS was disabled and they were disoriented in the fog.

The position of the boat was attained by the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 system. (Bold Mine)

A crew from Coast Guard Station Cape May arrived on scene and escorted the crew of the Addiction to Canyon Club Marina in Cape May.



How the Rescue 21 System Works  (My Add)

• A call for help is sent
• Direction finding (DF) equipment from one or more high sites computes the direction
  from which the signal originated, or line of bearing (LOB)
• Distress audio and the LOB are sent to the closest Ground Center(s)
• Appropriate resources are dispatched to respond immediately — even across regional boundaries

The new features are part of the Coast Guard's nationwide $550 million replacement of its communication system, which is more than 30 years old and considered obsolete.  Rescue 21 allows officers to reach boaters by VHF radio more than 20 miles offshore, compared with five to 10 miles under the old system, Mullinax said. The system also enables the Coast Guard to talk with boaters stuck on rivers and waterways. And, officials said, boaters' voices will be heard more clearly and for the first time will be recorded to enable officers to decipher barely audible calls for help.

The Coast Guard said, "They tell us where they think they are, but it's not where they are,".  Some marooned boaters are tourists or novices who don't know how to navigate out of trouble. "They aren't local and they don't know the area,".

Boaters with global positioning devices connected to their radios will benefit most from Rescue 21, CG spokesperson Mullinax said. Officers could locate their exact position instantly, even if their distress calls last for only a few seconds. Boaters without the devices could still be pinpointed within the range of a few square miles if they have a regular radio.

"If a vessel is sinking, you might get one call on it," Mullinax said. "You only get one chance to find it. The longer you're in the water, the less probability that you'll survive."

[BuoyJumper]

Coast Guard locates boat's crew - in Cape May Harbor
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, 609-463-6713
Published: Thursday, May 08, 2008

SAR Mayday Audio


The fishing boat Alexander is flooded, but afloat about 34 miles off the coast of Sea Isle City, N.J.,
Wednesday, May 7, 2008. The Alexander broke down and began taking on water, causing the crew
to abandon ship and join the crew of the fishing boat Master Les. (USCG photo/PO2 Ryan Isam)

Two fishermen who abandoned ship 34 miles off the coast of Sea Isle City on Tuesday night were finally located safe and sound Wednesday - in Cape May Harbor.  The discovery of the crew of the fishing boat Alexander capped a bizarre scenario that had the Coast Guard looking for the crew, who rescuers knew boarded another fishing boat and were heading to Cape May.

But with no direct radio contact and no idea whether the men were injured, the Coast Guard began searching in the ocean for that other boat - the Master Les - with helicopter and boat crews, according to the Coast Guard.

But the Master Les wasn't spotted until a Coast Guard crew saw it pulling into Cape May Harbor on Wednesday afternoon.

Fishermen Thanh Van Nguyen, 54, of Camden, and Cu V. Tran, 22, of Pennsauken, were in good health and did not require medical attention, according to the Coast Guard.

On Tuesday, the Coast Guard received a mayday call, in a heavy Vietnamese accent, that was relayed by another fishing boat, the Star I.
The distance involved or perhaps a faulty or weak radio aboard the boat may have been a factor as to why direct radio contact was non-existent, said Petty Officer First Class Nyx Cangemi.

The Alexander flooded for unknown reasons and partially submerged, Cangemi said.

The crew was able to contact their sister ship, the Master Les, which rescued them from the boat and managed to relay information that they took both men aboard, Cangemi said.

But there was no indication whether the men were injured, and the Coast Guard tried unsuccessfully to contact the Master Les, Cangemi said.

"We kept trying to contact the Master Les; our small boat stations were trying to call them," he said.

"We never spoke with anybody from the Master Les or the Alexander," he said.

Also on Wednesday, a Coast Guard helicopter crew located the Alexander, a yellow and white fishing boat that is flooded but upright in the ocean.

A commercial salvage crew will try to salvage the boat, Cangemi said.

"This was probably one of the odder cases I've seen since I've been here," he said.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

Man, Fiancée Lost At Sea
Couple Missing Since Thursday Morning
POSTED: 12:28 pm PDT May 9, 2008

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Coast Guard officials Friday said that a vessel matching the description of a missing Oceanside couple's boat -- including color, make and hull number -- had been found in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.



Officials said they could not confirm that it was the boat in question, as of Friday evening.

Josh Hartman and his fiancée, Anna Martin, left Oceanside Harbor around 7:30 a.m. and were expected to return at 3 p.m., officials said. They left in their 32-foot fishing vessel named Pelican.

Hartman's father reported him missing at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.

NBC 7/39 spoke with Hartman's brother off camera. He said he is very distraught and that neither he, nor his father, has slept since reporting the couple missing.

The family said the last communication they had with Josh was over cell phone. During that call, Hartman told his family he was fishing off the Oceanside, Camp Pendleton area, and that he and Anna were on their way back.

"I talked to his dad this morning and he said last night was the last time he talked to him about four or five in the evening and haven't seen or heard from him since," said Richard Deluna, a friend of the missing boaters.

The Coast Guard's HH-65 Jayhawk helicopter crew searched until sunrise Friday for the vessel, but found nothing. Hartman's father and brother, as well as friends, spent Friday searching along with the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard has received support from a C-130 aircraft from Sacramento on Friday morning. The aircraft also has the possibility to search in the dark and was expected to work as darkness fell in Oceanside.

Officials said search conditions were ideal.

"The winds have been light…a little bit of an overcast layer actually blocks off the sun, so there's no glare off the water, so we can definitely see a 32-foot boat," said Lt. Jeremy Denning of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Hartman shares the fishing vessel with his brother and father, which they use almost daily to fish for tuna, swordfish and lobster, NBC 7/39 reported.

[JerryM]

Couple Missing Since Thursday Morning
POSTED: 12:28 pm PDT May 9, 2008

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Coast Guard officials Friday said that a vessel matching the description of a missing Oceanside couple's boat -- including color, make and hull number -- had been found in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
   .   .   .   
Officials said they could not confirm that it was the boat in question, as of Friday evening.

Just a mite overcautious, ya think?

[BuoyJumper]

Couple Missing Since Thursday Morning
POSTED: 12:28 pm PDT May 9, 2008

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Coast Guard officials Friday said that a vessel matching the description of a missing Oceanside couple's boat -- including color, make and hull number -- had been found in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
   .   .   .   
Officials said they could not confirm that it was the boat in question, as of Friday evening.

Just a mite overcautious, ya think?

Especially in light of the commercial fishing vessel numbers matching that of the Pelican which if it is the commercial fishing vessel pictured in the video is 39076.  If the numbers match then how could the officials say, "they could not confirm that it was the boat in question".  Either the numbers match or they don't match. 

What a retarded statement by "officials" ....!  

[BuoyJumper]

17 rescued from fire aboard 46-foot
vessel on Alabama coast
May 11, 2008 12:26 EDT

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A fire aboard a 46-foot vessel in Bon Secour Bay on the Alabama coast forced the evacuation of 17 passengers. No one was injured.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Jaclyn Young said a passenger reported the fire at about 6:45 p.m.  Seventeen people were on the 46-foot Pleasure Craft Viking, she said. A local company, Sea Tow, took two people from the boat, Young said, while the Coast Guard rescued 15 people from the Viking and took them to Dauphin Island. Two others were taken to Dog River in south Mobile County.



The Coast Guard launched a 41-foot utility boat from Dauphin Island and a HH-65C rescue helicopter and crew from Air Station New Orleans.
Coast Guard officials said the vessel was in Baldwin County waters near the Intracoastal Waterway when the fire started about 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Further details on fire damages and how the blaze started are not yet available.