Boarding Team News

Twelve stowaways were found on a barge in San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan received notification from a Coast Guard Station San Juan boat crew at 8:34 a.m., Saturday, of a possible stowaway sighting aboard the barge that was being towed by the U.S.-registered tugboat Sarah Dann.Coast Guard Sector San Juan’s Boarding Team responded to the report and found nine stowaways aboard the barge, including one who was unresponsive. The unresponsive stowaway was reported to be breathing and have vital signs.

An ailing crewmember was medevaced from a Marshall Islands-registered bulk carrier Wednesday off Galveston, Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston command center watchstanders received a notification at 11 a.m. from a Sector Houston-Galveston boarding team aboard the 623-foot bulk carrier Beatrice anchored in the Galveston Anchorage, that the 44-year-old chief engineer stated he was experiencing shortness of breath. Watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon…

Royal Marines from the UK Navy's HMS Montrose Frigate have seized  £11 million (USD 15,3 million) worth of illegal drugs in two raids of suspect vessels in the Arabian Sea, the UK Ministry of Defence and the Navy said in statements on Wednesday.The Royal Marines seized 2.4 tonnes worth of illegal drugs from a suspect boat in the Northern Arabian Sea, on a counter-narcotics patrol. This was the second drug bust by the HMS Montrose crew in two days.According to the statement by the UK government…

The U.S. Navy seized thousands of weapons from two stateless dhows during a maritime security operation off the coast of Somalia last week.A boarding team from guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill’s (DDG 81) discovered the illicit cargo during a flag verification boarding in international waters, and the confiscation took place February 11 and 12.The cache of weapons consisted of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles, light machine guns, heavy sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers…

The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday issued a warning to mariners and commercial fisherman about the dangers and legal consequences of switching off their Automated Identification Systems (AIS), citing concern over a growing number of vessels operating with the tracking equipment disabled.The Coast Guard said it has been alarmed in particular by the increase of commercial fishing and crabbing vessels disabling their AIS, purportedly in an attempt to keep their fishing spots secret…

The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) provided assistance to an Iranian-flagged dhow in distress in the Arabian Sea, October 15.While operating under Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), Churchill received signal from the motor vessel via flashing light that it was in distress. When hailed over bridge-to-bridge radio, the vessel’s crew explained that their engine would not start due to a dead battery and they had run out of food and water.The Churchill’s…

The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 45-foot pleasure craft, Breaking the Habit, with 12 passengers aboard Saturday near American Airlines Arena.Watchstanders determined that the vessel was operating illegally and in violation of a previous Captain of the Port order. This is the second time within a month the vessel was discovered operating as an illegal charter. A Coast Guard Station Miami Beach boarding team conducted the boarding of the pleasure craft and discovered the following violations:Violation of 46 C.F.R.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-led multi-agency examination of shipping containers at the Philadelphia seaport netted a historic load of cocaine, the largest cocaine seizure in the 230-year history of U.S. Customs and CBP, with an estimated weight of over 17.5 tons and a street value of about $1.1 billion.During a midstream joint boarding Sunday night, CBP, HSI, and U.S. Coast Guard authorities detected anomalies while examining seven shipping containers aboard the MSC Gayane…

Royal Australian Navy reports that its frigate HMAS Ballarat seized two tonnes of hashish worth approximately $71 million in street value during a boarding operation on 28 February 2019.The boarding was conducted in international waters by the Combined Task Force 150 under the direction of the Combined Maritime Forces as part of Operation Manitou.Following the suspicious behavior of a local fishing vessel (dhow), the boarding team searched and discovered 100 hessian bags of hashish on board…

Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat has seized more than 900 kilos of heroin worth approximately $279 million* during two boarding operations that took place 21–23 Dec 18 as part of Operation MANITOU.Ballarat conducted flag verification checks by boarding vessels of interest, under the direction of the Combined Maritime Forces’ (CMF) Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 in international waters in the Arabian Sea. The fishing vessels, known as dhows, were believed to be engaging in illegal activity.The boarding team discovered and seized illegal narcotics on both dhows.

Bollinger Shipyards has delivered the USCGC Terrell Horne, the 31st Fast Response Cutter (FRC) to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard took delivery on the October 25, 2018 in Key West, Fla.The 154 foot patrol craft USCGC Terrell Horne, the 31st vessel in the Coast Guard's Sentinel-class FRC program has a flank speed over 28 knots, state of the art command, control, communications and computer technology, and a stern launch system for the vessel’s 26 foot cutter boat. The FRC has been described as an operational “game changer,” by senior Coast Guard officials.

Thieves have been fined nearly £250,000 after being caught by the Royal Navy plundering a World War I shipwreck.The crew of HMS Severn in 2016 found the Dutch-registered salvage ship Friendship lifting £90,000 of steel and copper stripped from the wreck of the SS Harrovian, 80 miles southwest of the Scilly Isles.The British steamer was heading from New York to Le Havre in France carrying various metals for the Allied war – including more than 1,000 tons of copper bars, worth around…

In coordination with the European Union Naval Force and the Turkish-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, which is a part of the Combined Maritime Forces, the U.S. Navy provided assistance to an Iranian fishing vessel after a reported piracy attack Oct. 24, south of Socotra, Yemen. The Iranian coast guard called U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) to report the incident and seek assistance for the fishing vessel. NAVCENT coordinated with the European Union Naval Force, who sent a patrol aircraft to investigate the incident. The U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) and the CTF-151 attached Japan Maritime Self Defense Force destroyer JS Amagiri (DD-154) responded to the vessel's location.

Nine crew members of a Malaysian navy boat are missing after they lost contact with their parent ship while chasing away intruding fishermen, the navy said on Monday. The nine were part of a boarding team from the warship KD Perdana, on patrol off the south coast, the Royal Malaysian Navy said in a statement. The team was chasing several foreign fishing boats out of Malaysian waters when contact was lost on Saturday evening. A search-and-rescue operation was launched about an hour later, after the KD Perdana failed to find the boat, the navy said. Eleven ships and two aircraft had been deployed for the search, it said. Southern Malaysian waterways, which border Indonesia and Singapore, include busy international shipping lanes and rich fishing grounds.

USS Laboon (DDG 58) intercepted a small stateless dhow in the international waters of the Arabian Sea March 13, seizing 270 kilograms of heroin. Laboon, conducting maritime security operations in the region as a part of Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 of the Combined Maritime Forces, was conducting an inspection of the vessel as part of a flag verification boarding when the illicit cargo was found. "Keeping these drugs off the street helps everyone, and keeps money from those who use the profits for harm," said Cmdr. Jason Labott, Laboon's commanding officer. The operation could not have succeeded without cooperation between U.S. Navy and U.K. Royal Navy vessels under the command of a Royal Canadian Navy commodore.

HMAS Darwin used a trans-Tasman voyage to brush up on her boarding drills with friends from Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Vancouver. The boarding practise took place during passage to Auckland for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th Anniversary International Naval Review, before both ships were retasked to assist the New Zealand with the response to the recent earthquake. Darwin’s Boarding Officer, Lieutenant James Hodgkinson said the exercise was an excellent opportunity for both teams to put their skills to the test in an unfamiliar environment. “The Canadian team wanted to board a different vessel, to have foreign compartments to search and unfamiliar personnel to encounter,” he said.

Three commercial fishing vessels operating throughout Puget Sound were ordered to return to port Wednesday after U.S. Coast Guard boarding teams discovered multiple safety violations. Following the boardings, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port for Sector Puget Sound sent the three crews back to port to correct deficiencies and complete a satisfactory dockside safety examination with Coast Guard personnel. In the first instance, a boarding team from Coast Guard Cutter Osprey reported several safety discrepancies on the 27-foot commercial fishing vessel Wendy Sue, including insufficient fire extinguishers, no documentation and no sound-producing device.

HMAS Darwin’s boarding team has uncovered and seized a large weapons cache, following a boarding of a fishing vessel during their deployment to the Middle East Region as part of Operation MANITOU. Operating under Combined Task Force 150, responsible for counter-terrorism operations within the Middle East Region, Darwin intercepted the fishing vessel approximately 170 nautical miles (313 kilometres) off the coast of Oman to conduct a flag verification boarding. After assessing the vessel to be stateless, 1989 AK-47 assault rifles, 100 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM general purpose machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 60mm mortar tubes were seized from the vessel that was headed towards the Somalia coast.

Choosing next generation communication systems for professional marine operations can be a daunting task. Not to worry: John Haynes provides a primer. Over the past decade we have come to expect fast, seamless global communications from a single device that fits in our pocket. The age of the smart phone and tablet enables multiple voices talking in a conference call and real time transfer of data, ranging from documents to photos and videos. In the modern bridge, most crew members have a GPS in their pocket which can identify where that person is on the planet.

Norbulk Shipping UK Ltd, a company based in Glasgow, U.K., and operator of the reefer cargo ship M/V Murcia Carrier, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an accurate oil record book in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and providing false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) concerning the vessel’s garbage record book. The company was sentenced to pay a criminal penalty of $750,000 and placed on three years of probation by the Honorable Joseph H. Rodriguez, the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced today. “Our oceans are life giving and life sustaining resources that our country and our world depend upon,” said Assistant Attorney General John C.

Crewmembers of Coast Guard Station Miami Beach, Florida, offloaded 254 kilograms of cocaine and 3,662 pounds of marijuana interdicted in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation  Martillo worth an estimated wholesale value of $11.8 million, at Base Miami Beach, Friday. On Sept. 3, a maritime patrol aircraft reported a suspicious Panamanian flagged sailing vessel southeast of Nicaragua. Coast Guard Cutter Robert Yered arrived on scene and attempted to contact the vessel. With no response to radio calls, and the vessel not slowing down, the Robert Yered launched its smallboat with a law enforcement team and subsequently boarded the vessel after receiving permission from the Panamanian government.

Approximately 1,100 kilograms of cocaine and 4,420 pounds of marijuana interdicted in the Caribbean Sea worth an estimated wholesale value of $41 million was offloaded by U.S. Coast Guardsmen at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Fla., Tuesday. The drugs were seized as part of Operation Martillo and Unified Resolve. On September 20, a Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft located a suspicious go-fast vessel southeast of Isla Saona, Dominican Republic. The Coast Guard Cutter Richard…

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Diligence is scheduled to return to their homeport in Wilmington Saturday following a 45-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea. During their patrol, the Diligence crew conducted search and rescue operations off the west coast of Cuba and conducted drug interdiction operations in the vicinity of Columbia and Panama. In anticipation of Aviation Standardization, a three-day assessment of the Diligence crew's flight operations capabilities scheduled for early October, the crew practiced flight operations their first evening underway. An MH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Savannah in Savannah, Georgia, met the cutter crew to conduct deck landings, helicopter in flight refueling (HIFR) and vertical replenishment (VERTREP) exercises.