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Juan De Fuca News

08 Dec 2021

KOTUG Canada Bags Charters for Three Vessels

Credit: KOTUG Canada

Marine services and towage firm KOTUG Canada Inc., a partnership between KOTUG International and Canada’s Horizon Maritime Inc., has won a long-term agreement with Trans Mountain, operator of Canada’s only oil pipeline servicing the West Coast of Canada providing tidewater access to foreign markets for Canada’s petroleum resources. KOTUG Canada will provide escort towage to tankers loaded at Westridge Marine Terminal. "KOTUG Canada was selected for this purpose by shippers on the Trans Mountain Pipeline after a rigorous and competitive process facilitated by Trans Mountain.

28 Oct 2021

More than 100 Containers Lost from Zim Kingston

(Photo: Canadian Coast Guard)

More than 100 containers have been lost from a fire-stricken containership off British Columbia, well above original estimates, the Canadian Coast Guard said.Initial reports indicated that the Malta-flagged Zim Kingston lost roughly 40 boxes near the Strait of Juan de Fuca, on October 22, after heavy weather caused the vessel to list 35 degrees while traveling from Busan, South Korea to Vancouver, Canada.A fire that broke out on board on October 23 led to the loss of additional containers, and by Wednesday the Canadian Coast Guard said the number of lost boxes has risen to 109.

24 Oct 2021

Fire Breaks Out on Containership off British Columbia

The Zim Kingston caught fire a day after losing 40 containers while moored approximately five nautical miles from Victoria. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

A container fire that broke out on Saturday on a cargo ship carrying mining chemicals off British Columbia is smoldering and appears to be under control, Canadian Coast Guard officials said on Sunday.Sixteen crew members were evacuated from the MV Zim Kingston on Saturday, while five remained onboard to fight the fire.The ship is anchored several kilometers off the southern coast of Vancouver Island. Residents of the island are not in danger, officials said, and transit of commercial…

31 Jan 2021

Video: Containership Crew Member Medevaced Off Washington

(Video: Steven Strohmaier / U.S. Coast Guard)

A U.S. Coast Guard said it medevaced a woman from a containership off the Washington coast Saturday after she was having difficulty breathing and experiencing temporary unconsciousness.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound command center received a call at 11:30 a.m. from the ship’s health insurance provider stating the 65-year-old woman required medical attention.At the time, the 710-foot container ship, Matson Kodiak, was transiting westbound in the Strait of Juan…

11 Jul 2018

Cruise Ship Passenger Dies after Going Overboard

Coast Guard rescue crew members transfer an unresponsive individual to local Emergency Medical Service personnel after recovering him the water near the Strait of Juan de Fuca on July 10, 2018. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

A cruise ship passenger who went overboard near the Strait of Juan de Fuca has been pronounced dead.The U.S. Coast Guard said the 73-year-old male was unresponsive when he was recovered by a helicopter rescue crew from the water near the west coast Canada/U.S. border.The overboard passenger was transferred to local Emergency Medical Service personnel waiting on shore and then to the Olympic Medical Center where he was later pronounced deceased.Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound Command…

01 Aug 2017

Salvage and Marine Firefighting

© Lev Savitskiy / Adobe Stock

Salvage and marine firefighting are complex response efforts often undertaken in adverse weather and sea conditions. While no two oil spill responses are the same, the diversity of variation between any two oil spill responses is not near as great as the diversity of any two salvage and marine firefighting responses. As a result, salvage and marine firefighting response providers must plan for and anticipate a wide range of variation in what will be required to address their portion of a marine casualty. The U.S.

21 Aug 2016

Submarine Collides off Washington Coast

The ballistic-missile submarine USS Louisiana and a Navy offshore support vessel collided while conducting routine operations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca off the coast of Washington state on Thursday (August 18, 2016), informs  the United States Navy. The collision occurred at 6:00 p.m. There were no injuries to personnel. Assessments of the damage to both the submarine and the U.S. Navy Offshore Support Vessel are being conducted. The incident is currently under investigation. Both ships returned safely to port under their own power. The U.S. Navy Offshore Support Vessel returned safely to port at Port Angeles, Washington, and the USS Louisiana returned safely to homeport at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor, Washington.

04 Apr 2016

Research Vessel Neil Armstrong Joins WHOI Fleet

R/V Neil Armstrong sails into San Francisco Harbor at the conclusion of the first leg of its inaugural voyage in late 2015. (Image by Aerial Productions, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

I woke up the first night out of Anacortes, Washington, when the ship dropped out from under me and I levitated off my bunk. Then came the sound of shuffleboard in the conference room one deck above. The only trouble was, there's no shuffleboard on the research vessel Neil Armstrong. It was Halloween 2015 in the Northeast Pacific. We were in the first hours of the first voyage of the newest ship in the U.S. academic research fleet, and we were already plowing through 15-foot waves. But the ship’s motion made it feel more like we were facing much heavier seas.

22 Jun 2015

Kvichak to Build 48 ft. Foil Research Cat

Photo: Kvichak Marine

Kvichak Marine Industries, a Vigor Company, was recently awarded a contract to design and build a 48’ all-aluminum foil assisted research catamaran for the King County Environmental Laboratory. The vessel will operate in Puget Sound, the Straits of Juan de Fuca and adjoining inland waterways. The vessel will be conducting water sampling research along with marine buoy calibration, maintenance and retrieval, tours and shoreline surveys, dive and ROV operations. This will be the thirteenth foil assisted catamaran Kvichak has built since 2000.

16 Jun 2015

Shell Arctic Rig Protesters Detained and Released

USCG photo by Katelyn Shearer

U.S. The 24 people who violated the 500-yard safety zone established around the Shell Arctic drilling rig Polar Pioneer were detained by USCG and partner agency law enforcement personnel Monday morning. The individuals were transported to Coast Guard Base Seattle at Pier 36, issued notices of violation that include a $500 fine and released with their equipment. "The Coast Guard and our agency partners are committed to maintaining the integrity of navigable waterways and protecting the safety of the maritime public," said Capt.

13 Apr 2015

US Navy Cargo Ship Drifts Powerless

The U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command cargo ship Cape Intrepid lost power and drifted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca for about 3 miles before a tug intervened to take control of the vessel on Saturday. The 685-foot Navy-contracted cargo was undergoing sea trials after a long period docked in Tacoma when it lost power about 2:30 a.m. Saturday north of Clallam Bay. Coast Guard Lt. Ben Weber says it drifted about 3 ½ miles before the emergency tug Jeffrey Foss reached it approximately two hours later. The tug Jeffrey Foss has taken the vessel to Port Angeles in Washington for repairs. Cape Intrepid is operated by Military Sealift Command, Tacoma. It left Tacoma on Friday for sea trials. It wasn't immediately clear why it lost power or how long repairs might take.

20 Jul 2014

USCG Helps Rescue 2 on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

The U.S. Coast Guard transported two injured hikers from a remote part of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to Victoria at the south end of the island, Saturday. A Port Angeles-based MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew safely hoisted the two men, both were reportedly suffering from broken ankles and one with additional head trauma, and transported them to the Canadian coast guard base in Victoria where they were successfully delivered to awaiting EMS personnel. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 13th District Command Center in Seattle received a request from personnel at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, at 7:30 p.m., requesting the assistance of a helicopter crew to transport the injured men…

03 Dec 2013

Nontank VRP Regs

(Photo courtesy T&T Salvage)

The clock is ticking toward the deadline to submit to the U.S. Coast Guard an oil spill response plan that meets the requirements of the NTVRP regulation. The long-awaited nontank vessel response plan (NTVRP) rulemaking was published on September 30, 2013 and came into effect on October 30, 2013. Neither of these are significant dates for the owners, operators, and masters of nontank vessels operating on the navigable waters of the United States. The truly significant date is January 30, 2014.

15 Mar 2013

Maritime Labor Convention 2006 and the U.S.

The Maritime Labor Convention 2006, sponsored by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and better known as MLC 2006, will enter into force on August 20, 2013. It has been ratified by 35 nations as of the date of the preparation of this article, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Panama, Singapore and Spain. The United States has not ratified MLC 2006, and it is unclear whether it ever will – not so much as of objection to its various provisions, but more due to sheer inertia.

04 Mar 2011

Black Ball Ferry Purchases Victoria Express

Black Ball Ferry Line is purchasing the business operations of the Victoria Express from Victoria Rapid Transit in a deal announced today by both companies. Terms of the sale were not released. The Harmon family formed Victoria Rapid Transit in 1990, and over the past two decades grew the ferry business to include service to Victoria, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and Port Angeles. The ferry has also offered numerous private charters for individuals and organizations throughout the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Puget Sound, as far south as Westport and even into Lake Washington. “The Harmon family has built a great company and there is a lot of goodwill among their customer base,” said Black Ball Ferry Line president Ryan Burles.

28 Dec 2010

This Day in U.S. Coast Guard History – December 28

1835-The "Dade Battle" occurred when Seminole Indians ambushed and killed Major Francis Langhorne Dade and his Army command while they were on the march on Fort King Road from Fort Brooke to reinforce the troops at Fort King (Ocala). This battle was the immediate cause of the Second Seminole War, a war in which the Revenue Cutter Service played an important role. 1857-The light was first illuminated in the Cape Flattery Lighthouse, located on Tatoosh Island at the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Washington. "Because of Indian trouble it was necessary to build a blockhouse on Tatoosh Island before even commencing the construction of the lighthouse. 1903-An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the non-contiguous territory of the Hawaiian Islands.

11 Nov 2010

Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010

On Friday, October 15, President Obama signed into law the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 3619). This is the first such authorization act for the Coast Guard since 2006. The statute is lengthy (128 pages) and addresses a wide variety of maritime issues. This article will attempt to identify those provisions expected to have the most impact or of the most interest. I have grouped these provisions into broad categories, although there is some natural overlap. The Coast Guard is provided specific authority to enforce the U.S. coastwise trade laws and its personnel are to be trained with regard to these laws. This provision is somewhat redundant, in that the agency, since its founding as the Revenue Cutter Service in 1790, has had this authority.

05 Nov 2010

Drunken Freighter Captain Gets 14 Days

According to a Nov. 4 report from CBC News, the captain of a South Korean freighter has been sentenced to 14 days in a U.S. jail for commanding a vessel through the Juan de Fuca Strait at the south end of Vancouver Island while drunk and without any navigational charts. (Source: CBC News)

12 Jul 2010

Irika Shipping $4M Penalty for Concealing Pollution

Irika Shipping S.A., a ship management corporation registered in Panama and doing business in Greece, pleaded guilty on July 8, 2010 before Maryland U.S. District Court Judge Frederick J. Motz, to felony obstruction of justice charges and violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships related to concealing deliberate vessel pollution from the M/V Iorana, a Greek flagged cargo ship that made port calls in Baltimore, Tacoma, Wash., and New Orleans. According to the multi-district plea agreement arising out of charges brought in the District of Maryland, Western District of Washington, and Eastern District of Louisiana, Irika Shipping has agreed to pay a $4m total penalty…

16 Dec 2009

Crowley ATB Largest to Transit Alaskan Waters

Photo courtesy Crowley

Crowley's petroleum transportation group recently made history, as its 155,000-barrel ATB, Sea Reliance/550-1, became the largest of its kind to have ever transited Alaskan waters. Under the watchful command of Capt. Scott Murdock, Sea Reliance/550-1 completed a voyage from Martinez, Calif., to Anchorage, Alaska carrying a full load of jet fuel. The journey, which occurred without incident, was met with several weather concerns because of an early start to the winter storm season.

22 Dec 2009

Juan de Fuca Agreement 30th Anniversary

The Co-Chairs of the Joint Coordinating Group of the Cooperative Vessel Traffic Service announced the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Cooperative Vessel Traffic Services Agreement for the Juan de Fuca region. This agreement between the Government of Canada, Canadian Coast Guard and the Government of the United States, United States Coast Guard established a coordinated Vessel Traffic Services system in the boundary waters and offshore approaches of the Juan de Fuca Strait and was signed on Dec. 19, 1979 by the U.S. Ambassador to Canada and Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs. The members of the Joint Coordinating Group meet twice a year, once in Canada and once in the United States to manage this unique agreement.

27 Dec 2009

This Day in Coast Guard History – Dec. 28

1835-The "Dade Battle" occurred when Seminole Indians ambushed and killed Major Francis Langhorne Dade and his Army command while they were on the march on Fort King Road from Fort Brooke to reinforce the troops at Fort King (Ocala). This battle was the immediate cause of the Second Seminole War, a war in which the Revenue Cutter Service played an important role. 1857-The light was first illuminated in the Cape Flattery Lighthouse, located on Tatoosh Island at the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Washington. "Because of Indian trouble it was necessary to build a blockhouse on Tatoosh Island before even commencing the construction of the lighthouse. 1903-An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the non-contiguous territory of the Hawaiian Islands.

08 Mar 2010

Crowley Tug Assists Disabled Containership

Photo courtesy Crowley

Crowley Maritime Corporation's tugboat Hunter, the state-funded emergency response tug stationed at Neah Bay, Wash., was dispatched this week to assist the 712-ft container vessel, Horizon Tacoma, after the vessel experienced engine problems. The Horizon Tacoma was a few miles north of Neah Bay when it elected to shut down its main engines following the engine problem, though it continued to have full use of its thrusters and directional navigation. After notification by the U.S.