Salem-News.com Coast Guard articles Page 1

False Maritime Distress Calls Affect USCG, Taxpayers, and Mariners in Distress

The Coast Guard must remain vigilant and take all distress calls seriously.

(SEATTLE) - John W. Graham, 37, of Seattle, was indicted, Wednesday, by a federal grand jury for three counts of making false statements related to phony reports of a vessel in distress.

The U.S. Coast Guard says most distress calls at sea are legit; usually the callers are truly in distress. But some of those calls are suspected or found to be false distress calls or hoaxes.

Breaching Whale Strikes Sailboat Near Astoria

Nobody was injured, the vessel had been participating in the Oregon International Offshore Race to Victoria, B.C.

(ASTORIA, Ore.) - A sailboat was struck by a breaching whale near the coast of Astoria, Thursday. The vessel and its crew were taking part in a race to Victoria, B.C., when the whale surfaced.

Coast Guard Sector Columbia River received a report from the 38-foot sailing vessel L'Orca at 9:30 a.m. after the whale breached the surface of the water and crushed the rigging and mast of the boat when it fell back into the water.

Cargo Vessel Strikes Pier, Two Barges in Clatskanie

No pollution or injuries were reported, but one of the barges was pushed to shore by tugboat after papermill staff determined it might sink.

(ASTORIA, Ore.) - A cargo vessel carrying lumber struck a pier and two barges damaging a building at the Wauna Georgia Pacific papermill in Clatskanie, Ore., Friday.

The motor vessel Susaki Wing out of Panama struck the pier at approximately 5:53 p.m. after losing propulsion. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River in Astoria dispatched an HH-60 helicopter crew and a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew to the scene.

Ghost Ship on Indian Ocean Found

Ghost-ship MV Esperznza recovered by Seychelles government.

(KENYA (ECOP-MARINE)) - Sailors aboard the USS Sterett rescued the crew off the M/V Esperanza in December 2010 - after not having been able to repair the engine properly. He didn't mention, what the Government of the Seychelles had to say about it:

"The MT Esperanza, a 79 metres Sierra Leone registered tanker had been drifting at sea for several months. The vessel was apparently left adrift in the ocean, after its crew had been taken by a foreign naval vessel to Oman..."

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Detected in Oil Leaking from Derelict Vessel

A primary and secondary containment area has now been established around the vessel.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Follow up tests of oil samples taken from a 431-foot derelict vessel, Davy Crockett, have detected low levels of PCBs.

Coast Guard, Ecology, Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality and other agencies responded and are working to cleanup oil and monitor the vessel.

Coast Guard Medically Evacuates Man Who Fell From Cliff

The man was hoisted and transported to Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay.

(ASTORIA, Ore) - The Coast Guard medically evacuated a 20-year-old man who fell from a cliff south of Bastendorf Beach near Coos Bay , Ore., Wednesday.

Coast Guard Group North Bend, Ore., received an agency assist request, at approximately 5:10 p.m., from the Charleston, Ore., Fire Department to hoist a man who had fallen approximately 30 feet from a cliff.

Coast Guard Assists Tillamook County Officials Locate Missing Mushroom Picker

The crew passed on the location of the man to the Tillamook County Sherriff’s Department who directed a ground party to the site where they positively identified and recovered Smith

(SEATTLE, Washington) - The Coast Guard assisted the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Department in locating a missing 73-year-old man near Nehalem, Oregon, Sunday.

Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Oregon, received a report that Lawrence Smith was missing at approximately 4 p.m., and launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew at 4:07 p.m. to conduct a search in the vicinity of Nehalem.

Coast Guard Closes Columbia River, Tillamook Bay, and Siuslaw River Bar Entrances

(ASTORIA, Ore.) - The Coast Guard Captain of the Port, Sector Columbia River, in Astoria, Ore., has closed the Columbia River, Tillamook Bay, Ore., and Siuslaw River, Ore., bar entrances due to hazardous conditions, Saturday.

The bar closures are for all vessels and any request to transit the bars prior to re-opening must be approved by the Captain of the Port, Sector Columbia River. Mariners may contact the Coast Guard on VHF-FM Channel 16 or Sector Columbia River by telephone at (503) 861-6211 for further information or to request crossing.

Coast Guard evacuates crewman from fish processing vessel, Coos Bay

(COOS BAY, Ore.) - The Coast Guard medically evacuated an injured crewman from a fish processing vessel that was 40 miles southwest of Coos Bay, Ore. at approximately 12:10 a.m., Friday.

The Coast Guard was notified 11 p.m., Thursday that Mamadou Konato, a 46-year-old male, had injured his hand in machinery while working on the 276-foot fish processor Pacific Glacier.

Coast Guard, Netarts Fire Department Respond to Capsized Vessels in Netarts Bay Oregon

(SEATTLE, Wash.) - The Coast Guard, working with Netarts Fire Department, recovered three people from the water after two vessels capsized in Netarts Bay, Ore., 12-miles south of Tillamook Bay, Ore., at approximately 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Two Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Ore., two motor lifeboat crews from Coast Guard Station Tillamook Bay and two jet skis from Netarts Fire Department deployed to assist after onlookers reported two vessels in distress.