Myrtle Beach News

Four divers that went missing off the U.S. East Coast on Sunday were rescued Monday 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, N.C.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector North Carolina initially received a notification Sunday from Coast Guard Sector Charleston stating four men were diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. near noon, and had not resurfaced. Sectors Charleston and North Carolina coordinated a multi-asset…

A towing vessel sank Tuesday night approximately 3 miles off North Myrtle Beach, S.C.Horry County Fire Rescue personnel rescued the three crew members aboard the vessel, identified as the 59-foot-long Jacqueline A—a U.S.-registered pusher tug built in 1981. No injuries have been reported.The vessel is currently in 30 feet of water, and has approximately 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel on board, the U.S. Coast Guard said. There are no reports of shoreline impacts, and the vessel’s owner…

Photos released by the U.S. Navy on Tuesday show sailors collecting the remnants of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by an Air Force fighter over the weekend off the coast of South Carolina.The U.S. military began collecting the debris after the high-altitude surveillance balloon was shot down by an F-22 fighter over the weekend at the orders of President Joe Biden. The balloon fell about six miles off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., into about 50 feet of water.China has claimed that the balloon was a wayward “civilian unmanned airship” primarily conducting weather research.

Stunned residents of the Bahamas surveyed the wreckage of their homes and officials struggled to assess the number killed by Hurricane Dorian, as the storm bore down on the South Carolina coast, threatening record flooding on Thursday.The United Nations said 70,000 people in the Bahamas needed immediate humanitarian relief after the most damaging storm ever to hit the island nation.Aerial video of the worst-hit Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas showed widespread devastation…

At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the center of Hurricane Dorian was located near latitude 29.5 North, longitude 79.6 West.Dorian is moving toward the north-northwest near 8 mph (13 km/h), and a northwest or north-northwest motion is expected through this morning. A turn toward the north is forecast by this evening, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast on Thursday morning.On this track, the core of Hurricane Dorian will move dangerously close to the Florida east coast and the Georgia coast through tonight.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (Great Lakes), provider of both dredging services in the United States and environmental and infrastructure services, announced the receipt of a several dredging awards totaling $164 million. the Delaware River Deepening Variation Order (Capital, Delaware, $14.3 million). The scope of work for the four coastal protection projects includes sustenance of beachfronts with sand excavated from off-shore borrow which is then used to rebuild dunes and restore the shorelines eroded by winter storms.

The Boaterz ‘n Bikerz Hull of a Tour² launch of “The Freedom Ride” throttled forward yesterday from Freedom Boat Club’s Marina Jack location in downtown Sarasota, FL. The nine-day, 2000-mile motorcycle and boating tour attracted 30 members of the boating industry including their friends, and travels up the east coast to Washington D.C., concluding with participation in the 100,000-bike rally, Rolling Thunder, which honors war veterans, POWs and MIA on Memorial Day weekend. “This ride is a celebration of freedom and the great outdoors,” said tour organizer and marine industry marketing veteran Wanda Kenton Smith. “Our tour is unique in that we combine the best of the open roads with the open seas in an adventure that promotes both motorcycling and boating activity.

For their strong commitment to leadership, strategic management, performance analysis and continuous improvement, Liebherr Mining Equipment Newport News Co. has been awarded the 2014 Award for Excellence by the Balanced Scorecard Institute (BSI). The entreprise has developed and deployed a comprehensive strategic planning and management system in order to affect company-wide transformation and change. As described by BSI, the award is based on the company’s executive leadership, strategy development and communication clarity, organization alignment to a shared vision of the future, strategic resource allocation, performance reporting and communication, breakthrough results and sustainability.

The U.S. Coast Guard contracted the removal of any fuel or hazardous substances that may be aboard the 65-foot motor vessel Wanderer Monday, after the vessel sank in the Intracoastal Waterway at Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Saturday morning. Personnel at Coast Guard Sector Charleston were notified of the sunken vessel and directed pollution responders to investigate further. The vessel Wanderer was found partially submerged at the pier and was actively sheening diesel fuel. The responsible party made initial efforts to mitigate the spread of pollution to the local waterways by having an absorbent boom deployed around the vessel and dock. Horry County Fire and Rescue and Towboat US recovered or removed a total of seven 55-gallon drums and two 50-gallon fuel tanks from the vessel.

The passenger vessel, Jungle Princess, was recently completed for Great American Riverboat Cruises, Myrtle Beach, S.C. The vessel features a tropical jungle theme for both interior and exterior, including real and painted palm trees, and exterior sides painted with tropical birds, monkeys, and the jungle theme. Design and Engineering services were provided by DeJong & Lebet, Inc. Naval Architects, Jacksonville, Fla. The vessel was partially completed at Freeport Shipbuilding, with the deckhouse and other items completed by the owner in Myrtle Beach. The Jungle Princess measures 64 x 24ft., and is U.S. Coast Guard certificated under Subchapter T. She features two enclosed passenger decks, with a Third Level open passenger deck, as well as the pilothouse.

With offshore oil and gas exploration becoming a hot topic in South Carolina, the House is poised to debate a bill on May 16 that authorizes a study of gas exploration off the state's coast. The bill calls for a committee to study the feasibility of natural gas exploration off the state's coast and to report by Jan. 13. A bill allowing gas exploration, currently banned off the East coast, passed a U.S. House subcommittee last week. Critics who oppose oil and gas exploration off the coast argue that alternative energy and conservation means should be exhausted first. The bill cites proposals in Congress to offer incentives to states to allow gas exploration, saying the fuel is clean and in high demand.

Coast Guard crews are currently responding to a distress call from the 135-foot tugboat, Valour, towing a 500-foot barge loaded with approximately 140,000 barrels of petroleum by-product 37 miles off the coast of Cape Fear, N.C. The Valour radioed the Coast Guard for help on Tuesday because they had a crewmember fall overboard, and their vessel was taking on water. A rescue helicopter from Air Facility Charleston launched to assist, and upon arriving at the scene they rescued one crewmember and transported him to Myrtle Beach Hospital, S.C. The remaining crewmembers stayed with the struggling vessel until the Justin Fox, a 125-foot tugboat in the area, arrived on scene.

House Bill (H.B.) 19, in North Carolina, was passed by the North Carolina House of Representatives. The bill prohibits "cruises to nowhere" and regulates other offshore gaming operations the state doesn't have the authority to ban outright. Vessels that embark and disembark passengers in North Carolina, but make an intervening stop in a neighboring state, would be regulated under the bill. To be considered to have made an intervening stop, a vessel would have to dock at a port in another state, remain continuously at the port for at least six hours, and allow passengers to disembark the vessel for sightseeing, shopping or other similar tourism-related activity.

Federal District Judge David Norton issued a declaratory judgment, giving Dewayne Williams, who runs LA Cruise, Inc. of Mayport, Fla., permission to operate a "cruise to nowhere" vessel out of South Carolina. Williams has expressed interest in operating a casino boat out of Murrells Inlet. Casino gambling is banned in South Carolina, but federal law permits "cruise to nowhere" gaming ships to operate in the absence of a state law specifically prohibiting them. Norton pointed out in his ruling, the only way the state could prevent "cruises to nowhere" from taking passengers into international waters (three miles offshore) to gamble, would be to pass a law specifically forbidding such activity. A general ban on casino gambling is not sufficient.