Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy Departs For Arctic and to Circumnavigate North America

The Coast Guard’s medium icebreaker Healy departed Seattle on Saturday, July 10 for a months-long Arctic deployment and circumnavigation of North America.

The mission for the 420-foot Cutter Healy is to provide U.S. surface presence in the Arctic, conduct high latitude science and research, including exercises and professional exchanges with foreign navies and patrols.

Healy will return to its homeport in Seattle after it has circumnavigated North America via the Northwest Passage, sailing south through the Atlantic Ocean and...

USCG Report: Recreational Boating Fatalities Jumped 25% in 2020

The U.S. Coast Guard released its 2020 Recreational Boating Statistics Report yesterday, which noted that there were 767 boating fatalities nationwide in 2020, a 25.1 percent increase from 2019. From 2019 to 2020, the total number of accidents increased 26.3 percent (4,168 to 5,265), and the number of non-fatal injured victims increased 24.7 percent (2,559 to 3,191).  

The report included some evidence that boating activity increased significantly during the pandemic, i.e. increased boat sales, insurance policies taken out, insurance claims, and calls for towing assistance. “With the increased exposure… 

International Security Part of Cutter Patrol that Ended last Week in Guam

The Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry returned home to Guam last week after a successful 37-day, expeditionary patrol to prevent, detect, and suppress illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Oceania and strengthen bonds with partners throughout Micronesia.

As part of Operation Blue Pacific and Operation 365 and with regional fishery advisory and management organizations including the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), CGC Oliver Henry patrolled over 7,500 miles supporting the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of ...

Captain and Four Crew Rescued from Burning Trawler 'Nobska' off Cape Cod

Five fishermen on the New Bedford trawler Nobska are safe after they were rescued by helicopter from the water 85 miles east of Cape Cod.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard First District received an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) notification at 5 p.m. last Friday from the from the 100-foot F/V Nobska, home ported in New Bedford.

U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue service members immediately boarded two aircraft — a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and HC-144 Hercules — at the Cape Cod Air Station and ...

Coast Guard Calls Off Search for Missing Mariner From Japanese Fishing Vessel

HONOLULU  — After a nearly 48-hour search covering over 6,500 square miles, the U.S. Coast Guard has suspended an active search for a mariner from a Japanese fishing vessel Miyamaru No. 18 located 722 miles southwest of Guam. The announcement was made yesterday afternoon. The mariner, an Indonesia native, remains missing.

“Working with the Navy, Australian Defense Forces, an Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System vessel, and good Samaritans aboard 15 fishing vessels, our crews conducted a total of 15 searches, over the course of 42 hours, covering...

USCG Icebreaker Polar Star Deploy to Arctic This Year Amid Rising Need for More Icebreakers

The nation’s sole heavy icebreaker Polar Star will spend this winter in the Arctic rather than the Antarctic, according to a release last week by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The mission for the 400-foot vessel will be to “help protect the nation’s maritime sovereignty and security in the region.”

For years the Polar Star has supplied the McMurdo Station in Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, an annual military mission to resupply the United States’ Antarctic stations, in support of the National Science ...

Fast Response Cutter Arrives on Guam, Named For First Woman to Enlist in Coast Guard, 102 Years Ago

The first of three Fast Response Cutters (FRC) arrived at Apra Harbor in Guam this week, after a 10,000-nautical mile two-month journey.

The Coast Guard Cutter Myrtle Hazard, which traveled from Key West, Florida to Guam, is equipped with advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems and boast greater range and endurance.

The new FRCs will replace the 30-year old 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. 

“FRC’s in Guam strengthen and affirm the U.S. Coast Guard's ...

Coast Guard Medevacs Injured Fisherman Near Cold Bay, Alaska

KODIAK, Alaska — The Coast Guard medevaced an injured fisherman approximately 40 miles west of Cold Bay, Alaska, Wednesday. A video of the helicopter lowering the medivac official and hoisting the patient as it hovered over the vessel in open water shows the skills needed for each at-sea procedure. 

At 2:30 p.m. an Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew hoisted the injured man and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services in Cold Bay for further transport to Anchorage.

At 8:34 a.m., command center watchstanders received on...

USCG Rescues Fisherman in Oregon Surf Amid High Wind, Waves, Currents, and Near Zero Visibility

The U.S. Coast Guard rarely lists the name of the service members who rescue mariners in trouble, and frequently praise those aiding in their own rescue by wearing survival suits or having a functional EPIRB. But in this case, Petty Officer 1st Class Wallace Qual, a swimmer who went into the churning sea twice to save the life of a fisherman already in the water, was named.

The initial mayday call came in at approximately 11:40 p.m., from a fisherman over VHF-FM radio. ...

Injured Oregon Fisherman Rescued by Coast Guard 150 Miles Off Yaquina Bay

A 24-year-old fisherman was rescued by the Coast Guard on Tuesday after sustaining an injury while on Piky, 63-foot commercial fishing boat.

The Coast Guard Station at Yaquina Bay received a call for help at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Piky was offshore from Yaquina Bay, Oregon, when fishermen Nathaniel Miller suffered a serious eye injury and vision loss. Miller was reeling in a tuna when a line slipped and a swivel tackle hit him in the eye...

CDC’s and USCG’s Latest on Masks While Fishing

The Center for Disease Control issued an update on wearing masks two weeks ago which was followed by a U.S. Coast Guard Bulletin that allowed fully-vaccinated vessel crew members to forego the masks while outdoors (on deck), but so far there has been no explicit notice for commercial fishermen while on board, inside the vessel.

There is some clarity on the horizon from CDC’s June 11 notice that it is amending its Face Masks Order to not require people to wear a mask in outdoor areas of conveyances and until the ...

Cause and Final Report on Scandies Rose Sinking Will Be Determined and Released June 29

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will determine the cause for the 2019 sinking of the cod and crab fishing vessel Scandies Rose at a webcast meeting on June 29, 2021. The vessel sank enroute from Kodiak to the Bering Sea on December 31, 2019 just 2.5 miles south of Sutwik Island. 

Of the seven crew aboard, five were lost when the vessel sank, including the captain and his son. Two were able to get their survival suits on and get into a liferaft during...

Scandies Rose Hearing Begins With Moment of Silence for Victims, then MayDay Call

The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation and Safety Board began the virtual inquiry into the sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose yesterday with a moment of silence for the five men lost on New Years Eve 2019 and their recorded mayday call. 

Captain Gary Cobban Jr. was heard in the recording calling out Mayday! Mayday!”, giving his longitude and latitude, then as listeners online heard the vessel’s alarms going off and men’s voices shouting in the background, Cobban repeated himself, there was static, then...

USCG Polar Star Builds Next Generation of Arctic Experts While Supporting Global Cooperation

The nation’s only heavy icebreaker, USCG Polar Star, is making its way north this winter to conduct scientific experiments, collect data, and project the U.S.’s sovereignty in the Arctic. It is the ship’s first winter Arctic deployment since 1982.

“In addition to executing the missions of today, Polar Star is training the next generation of icebreaker sailors who will carry on this important mission into the future,” said Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Charles Ray.

As human activity and international interest in the Polar Regions expand ...

Coast Guard Saves Two Fishing Vessels Last Thursday, More Than 4,000 Miles Apart 

In two rescue operations that unfolded on the same day on opposites sides of the continent, the Coast Guard brought both to safe harbor on Thursday, October 22, 2020.

Trouble started on the 77-foot fishing vessel Sea Farmer II when it became disabled 60 miles offshore of Platt's Bank. The captain requested assistance from the Coast Guard Sector Northern New England watch standers at 1:45 p.m. That’s when the Sitkinak, a 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boat based in Portland, Maine, was deployed...

U.S. Coast Guard, Royal Bahamas Defense Force Seize More Than 12,000 lbs. of IUU Fishing Catch

A joint effort between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force resulted in the interception of two Dominican Republic-flagged ships who were illegally fishing off Diamond Point, Great Bahama Bank.

Watchstanders from the Coast Guard's Operation Bahamas and Turks and Caicos operation center coordinated with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force crew too board the two vessels, the El Ship and Angel Gabriel. Once on board the Royal Bahamas Defense Crew seized more than...

Coast Guard Continuing to Seek Information on December 2019 Sinking of F/V Scandies Rose

Coast Guard Petty Officer Janessa Warschkow is making a plea for anyone with information regarding the F/V Scandies Rose or conditions around the time of the vessel's sinking to come forward.

As SeafoodNews previously reported, on December 31, 2019, the F/V Scandies Rose was approximately 170 miles southwest of Kodiak when the vessel sank with five men aboard. A mayday call that the vessel was taking on water was made at 10:15 p.m...

Bering Strait Communities Awash in Russian Marine Debris this Summer

Residents of at least five different communities in the Bering Strait region — Diomede, Wales, Shishmaref, Gambell, Savoonga, Unalakleet, and Nome — are cleaning up unusually high amounts of marine debris and trash, found along the usually pristine waters and beaches of Western Alaska.

KNOM radio station reported a number of individuals and families who have been collecting the trash along beaches where they would otherwise gather subsistence food, and of communities asking for help from the U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA Fisheries. 

Robb Kaler, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and ...

Public Hearing on F/V Scandies Rose Sinking Delayed Due to Pandemic

A hearing scheduled for September 8-18, 2020 in Seattle has been postponed to “protect the health of the investigative team, the witnesses, and families, and to comply with federal and state travel restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”

The hearing is part of the larger investigation into circumstances surround the sinking of the F/V Scandies Rose and the loss of five of its seven crewmembers on December 31, 2019 in the Gulf of Alaska.

“The public hearing is a critical part of the Marine ...