Coast guard rescues 8-26

[Saltwater Fishing]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Coast Guard has suspended its active search pending further developments for a possible missing boater at approximately 7:15 p.m. Wednesday after a boat was washed aground on Madeira Beach, Fla.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Sand Key, Fla., received a report at about 1 p.m. Wednesday from a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office marine unit who reported that a 48-foot Sea Ray, Makin Waves, ran aground on Madeira Beach with no one onboard.

A Coast Guard Station Sand Key 47-foot motor life boat crew, 25-foot response boat crew and a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew conducted searches.

With no new leads or correlating information the Coast Guard has suspended the active search for a possible missing boater and may resume the search if new information is received.

Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...ch/2010/08/25/

[Saltwater Fishing]

MOBILE, Ala. — The Coast Guard medevaced a crewmember from a vessel approximately two miles off the coast of Dauphin Island, Wednesday, at about 4 p.m.

Rescued was Glenn Kelly, 53.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report at approximately 3 p.m., from crewmembers aboard the Choptank, a 100-foot tug, that Kelly had reportedly fallen approximately 12 feet down a ladderwell and suffered a head injury.

Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile diverted an MH-65C rescue helicopter and crew, who were in the area conducting training, to the scene.

The rescue crew successfully hoisted Kelly off the Choptank and transported him to awaiting emergency medical services personnel at the University of South Alabama Medical Center, in Mobile.

Kelly’s condition is unknown.

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...la/2010/08/25/

[Saltwater Fishing]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Coast Guard is searching for a possible missing boater after a boat ran aground at about 1 p.m. Wednesday in Madeira Beach, Fla.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Sand Key, Fla., received a report from a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office marine unit who reported that a 48-foot Sea Ray, Makin Waves, ran aground on Madeira Beach with no one onboard.

A Coast Guard Station Sand Key 47-foot motor life boat crew, 25-foot response boat crew and a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew are currently searching.

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...ch/2010/08/25/

[Saltwater Fishing]

SEATTLE - Sector Puget Sound held a ceremony marking the shift from Sector Seattle to Sector Puget Sound, immediately preceding a change of command ceremony here, Wednesday.

The initiative commonly referred to as sectorization is part of a nationwide effort to consolidate the many responsibilities, missions and jurisdictions within the Coast Guard. The move is also aimed at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of Coast Guard personnel and assets.

Following the sectorization ceremony, Sector Puget Sound held a time honored change of command ceremony where Capt. Scott Ferguson relieved Capt. Scott Bornemann as Commanding Officer, Sector Puget Sound.

Ferguson took over command of the recently restructured Sector Seattle, now known as Sector Puget Sound, which was established on July 30th, 2010 to better serve the Puget Sound’s maritime community.

“The genesis of this restructuring is due in large part to an examination of the missions, services and responsibilities we execute daily and how we can improve our service to the maritime community,” said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Gary Blore, the commander in charge of all 13th Coast Guard District (encompassing the Pacific Northwest) operations. “Sectorization represents a tangible result of those lessons learned – having one voice as the local Coast Guard spokesperson – whether it is with the public we serve, the industries we regulate, or other government agencies with which we partner.”

This restructuring affects several Coast Guard units in Wash., by consolidating the many federal authorities that locally monitor maritime commerce, safety and security and placing them under the commander of Sector Puget Sound.


http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...ny/2010/08/25/

[Saltwater Fishing]

BURLINGTON — A Good Samaritan aboard a passing sailboat found an 18-year old girl struggling in the water during a search for her on Lake Champlain in Vermont, Wed., Aug. 25, 2010.

Found is: Anna Jeffken.

A 25-foot boat crew from Coast Guard Station Burlington, a Shelburne Fire Department marine unit, and Customs and Border Patrol began searching Lake Champlain from Appletree Bay to Juniper Island after Jeffken’s grandfather called the station around 12:30 p.m., reporting her missing.

The grandfather began to worry after she left his house at 6 a.m., in shorts and a sweatshirt but later found the clothes at the house and noticed a swimsuit was missing.

Relatives also found a journal entry the teen wrote stating she wanted to swim to the island from Appletree Bay, approximately a three-mile swim.

The Good Samaritan aboard the sailboat saw Jeffken treading water and waving her hands to get his attention about two miles from Juniper Island near Long Rock Point.

She was transferred from the sailboat to the Coast Guard boat, taken back to the station where she evaluated by a local EMS crew and released. She is reported to be in good condition.

Jeffken was visiting her grandparents in Vermont and is from the Boston area.

http://coastguardnews.com/teen-found...in/2010/08/25/

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NEW YORK– A Captain of the Port Order requiring suspension of operations was issued and delivered Friday, Aug. 20, 2010, to the owner/operator of the New York Sailing School in New Rochelle, NY.

The basis of the suspension is the failure of the owner/operator of the sailing school to comply with the federally mandated Drug and Alcohol Program (DAPI). The owner/operator has not enrolled his business in a DAPI program and has no recollection or records to prove any drug or alcohol tests have ever been conducted upon himself or any of his employees.

The discovery of this apparent violation was the result of an investigation carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard, Sector New York, following the death of Irish native and Brooklyn resident Eoin Curran on July 25 when he was swept overboard in a severe squall from a New York Sailing School sailboat. Curran was a student at the school and was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident.

Coast Guard personnel conducted investigations at the New Rochelle school several times after Curran’s death, most recently on Wednesday of this week.

Under the Captain of the Port Order, the school cannot resume operations until such time as it is not only enrolled in a drug and alcohol testing program but is in active compliance with testing and record keeping requirements. The Coast Guard must specifically rescind the Captain of the Port order for the school to resume operations.

In addition, the Coast Guard condemned and terminated the operation of a 30-foot wooden hulled launch used by the school to ferry students from shore to the school’s sailboats, moored in Echo Bay off of New Rochelle. This termination was based upon numerous structural deficiencies.

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...ns/2010/08/25/

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Coast Guard Sector San Juan hosted delegates from the Kingdom of the Netherlands Island of Aruba and Netherland Antilles Island of Curacao during a three-day International Port Security visit to port facilities in Puerto Rico Aug 17-19.

“We want to make sure that our international trading partners receive the same courtesies extended to us when we visit their ports and facilities and provide them with the latest executable information to include overseeing the actual paces of a port facility inspection,” said Lt Cmdr. Luis Parrales, Sector San Juan chief of inspections division . “This professional exchange between maritime experts allows us to better represent the Coast Guard’s International Port Security Program throughout the Caribbean, as we continue to build and maintain relationships in this key maritime arena.”

Ricardo Lansiquot, Aruba National Security Advisor; Ronnie Angela, Port Facility Security Officer Aruba Ports Authority; Gregory Lacle, Curacao Port Facility Security Officer and Marlon La Roche, Curacao Harbor Master, received a tour of San Juan Harbor and visited port and water front facilities such as the Puerto Rico Ports Authority Cruise Ship Terminal in Old San Juan, Crowley Service facility in Isla Grande, the Commonwealth Oil Refining Company, Inc. and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority EcoElectric facilities in Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. The delegates were introduced to the Facility Security Officers, who provided presentations as to how security measures are implemented at their respective facilities. This gave the delegates of Aruba and Curacao a great opportunity to compare and share best practices in their implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) to that of the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) implemented in the U.S.

The U.S. Coast Guard, through its International Port Security Program (IPSP), encourages bilateral or multilateral discussions with nations around the world in an effort to exchange information and share best practices that align implementation and enforcement requirements of the MTSA with the ISPS Code and other international maritime security standards. As lead agency for maritime security in the U.S., the Coast Guard works closely with our international trading partners to promote reasonable and consistent implementation and enforcement of the ISPS code for enhanced maritime security in countries (and ports) that participate in global trade.

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...it/2010/08/25/

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SOUTHWEST HARBOR — The U.S. Coast Guard in Maine will mark a year-long effort to implement various green energy initiatives by raising a wind turbine that will provide power to Coast Guard housing during a ceremony in Southwest Harbor, Maine, Fri., Aug. 27, 2010.

The wind turbine is among several methods the Coast Guard has pursued to harness the power of Maine’s sunlight, wind, tides, and bio-fuel resources.

Several other systems are already in place, reducing energy costs and emissions. On Tues., Aug. 24, 2010, the Coast Guard, along with Ocean Renewable Power Company, unveiled the first-ever successful implementation of tidal energy at a federal facility in Eastport, Maine.

“Anyone who lives and works in Maine’s coastal environment sees the potential power of the wind, the water, and even the sun”, said Capt. James B. McPherson, commander of Coast Guard forces in Maine. “Our forestry industry also gives us a great alternative to heating oil in the form of non-toxic, clean-burning wood pellets. Our goal is to put those clean resources to work for us, saving money and the environment at the same time.”

With multiple projects involving tidal generators, solar panels and pellet boilers already complete, workers in Southwest Harbor will raise the 70-foot tower and secure a 2.4-kilowatt “Skystream” wind turbine at the apex. The turbine, positioned to take advantage of the prevailing winds that carve through the housing site, will provide electrical power to homes where Coast Guard crew members and their families live. The turbine begins making power with an 8mph wind speed, and the Coast Guard is hopeful that the electricity generated will cover a large percentage of the power needs of the adjacent duplex home, especially during the windy winter months. The turbine is the next step in the pursuit of a “net zero” home concept in the Southwest Harbor Housing.

“The wind turbine will complete our ‘full house’ of successful green energy initiatives in Down East Maine,” said McPherson.

These initiatives directly conform with a multitude of federal energy mandates, including the Executive Order (E.O.) 13514, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007), E.O. 13423, Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), and the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA).

http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...or/2010/08/25/

[Saltwater Fishing]

CLEVELAND – The U.S. Coast Guard medically evacuated a 53-year-old female from Beaver Island, Mich., at about 2:30 a.m. today.

Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., launched a rescue crew after receiving a report of a woman experiencing the onset of seizures.

A paramedic from North Flight accompanied the flight crew during the medical evacuation.

The crew transferred the Beaver Island resident safely to Air Station Traverse City, where awaiting EMS transported her to a local hospital.


http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guar...nd/2010/08/25/

[Saltwater Fishing]

August 25, 2010

Federal officials today commissioned NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada, a state-of-the-art research vessel that will study a wide range of marine life and ocean conditions along the West Coast.


NOAA's newest fisheries survey vessel, Bell M. Shimada.

“NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada represents a major step forward in NOAA’s effort to modernize its fleet of fisheries, oceanographic and hydrographic survey ships,” said Rear Adm. Jonathan Bailey, director of the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and the NOAA Corps. “This highly capable ship will enable researchers to collect data on sea life and habitats with unprecedented accuracy.”

Bell M. Shimada’s design allows for quieter operation and movement of the vessel through the water, giving scientists the ability to study fish and marine mammals without significantly altering their behavior.

The vessel is the fourth of a new class of ships designed to meet the NOAA Marine Fisheries Service’s specific data collection requirements and the International Council for Exploration of the Seas’ standards for a low acoustic signature. The ship’s capabilities include a sophisticated sonar system and equipment for deploying buoys and sensor-packed underwater vehicles. In addition to studying fish and marine mammals, researchers will also use the ship to observe marine bird populations.

“NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada will play a vital role in supporting NOAA’s mission to protect, restore and manage living marine, coastal and ocean resources,” said Steve Murawski, Ph.D., NOAA’s chief scientist for fisheries. “Equipped with the latest technology, this new vessel will enhance significantly our ability to conduct research essential to sustaining and rebuilding fisheries.”

Bell M. Shimada was named by a team of students from Marina High School in Monterey, Calif., who won a regional NOAA contest to name the vessel. The ship's namesake served with the Bureau of Fisheries and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, and was known for his contributions to the study of tropical Pacific tuna stocks, which were important to the development of West Coast commercial fisheries following World War II. Bell M. Shimada’s son, Allen, is a fisheries scientist with NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

Launched in September 2008, the 208-ft. Bell M. Shimada was built for NOAA by VT Halter Marine Inc., in Moss Point, Miss., as part of the NOAA’s fleet replacement strategy to provide world-class platforms for U.S. scientists. The ship will operate primarily in U.S. waters from Washington state to southern California.

The NOAA fleet of ships and aircraft is operated, managed and maintained by the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, which includes commissioned officers of the NOAA Corps and civilian wage mariners.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories...5_shimada.html