Coast Guard Corrals Wayward Buoy in Long Island Sound
Built to guide mariners through safe waters, the Valiant Rock Lighted Whistle Buoy 11 was dangerously adrift in the Long Island Sound.When ferry operators traveling between Orient Point and Fishers Island, New York, first reported the buoy off station on Jan. 17, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Oak (WLB-211) was already underway but foul weather kept the cutter from removing it.This was the beginning of a two-week saga that would involve several Coast Guard units. Like the Loch Ness monster of the Long Island Sound, the 35-foot-tall green buoy was occasionally seen but hard to catch.
NTSB Opens AK Collision Probe
NTSB investigating collision between tug/barge and US Coast Guard vessel. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the collision between two vessels in Cordova, Alaska, on Sunday. On July 28 at about 7:00 am AKDT, the integrated tug/barge Krystal Sea was maneuvering its attached barge, the Cordova Provider, into the harbor when the forward section of the barge struck the moored US Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore. The port bow of the cutter was damaged; no one was injured in the accident.
USCG Cutter Damaged in Barge Allision
The Coast Guard is investigating an allision that occurred between an Alaska Marine Lines barge and the Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore in Cordova, Sunday. The Sycamore, a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender, was at its moorings when the allision occurred and suffered damage to its bow. There have been no reports of injuries or pollution at this time. The Sycamore, homeported in Cordova, conducts aids to navigation, search and rescue and law enforcement missions throughout Alaska. uscgnews.com
USCG Photo: Sycamore Sets Buoy in Valdez
The Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore crew sets one of two security zone buoys marking the restricted navigational area the Coast Guard patrols helping to protect the Trans Alaska pipeline terminal in the port of Valdez Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. The Sycamore is a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Cordova, Alaska, and is responsible for helping maintain 130 aids to navigation in Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Carla Geyer.
Coast Guard Responding to Sinking Vessel
Coast Guard rescue crews have responded to a 134-ft. fishing vessel with 25 people on board taking on water east of Kodiak, Alaska yesterday. The Coast Guard Communication center in Kodiak received an urgent distress call from the fishing vessel Legacy at about 8 a.m. Thursday reporting they are taking on water. Crewmembers aboard the Legacy were using dewatering pumps to try to control the flooding. Two Kodiak-based rescue helicopter crews, and a C-130 aircrew were on scene with the Legacy. Coast Guard rescuers delivered additional dewatering pumps to help control the flooding.The Cordova-based Coast Guard cutter Sycamore has also responded to the Legacy crew’s distress.The Legacy crew is equipped with two 25-ft. liferafts, and 36 survival suits.
Selendang Ayu Aground, Broken in Half
The motor vessel Selendang Ayu, a 738-foot freighter has run aground and broken in two on the northern shore of Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Island Chain. In addition a Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Kodiak crashed last night while evacuating the remaining eight crew members from the Selendang Ayu. The vessel ran aground more than 40-hours after the ship's main engine broke down causing it to drift in high winds and heavy seas. The Coast Guard has rescued 20 of the Selendang Ayu's 26 crewmen. The three Coast Guard crewmen from the Jayhawk and two persons who remained aboard the stricken vessel after the helicopter crashed are safe. Six crewmen from the Selendang Ayu still remain missing.
Coast Guard Assists Spirit of Columbia
Coast Guard Sector Anchorage responded to a call from the cruise ship Spirit of Columbia after it ran aground on the east side of Evans Island in Latouche Passage, near Whittier on Sunday. There were 51 passengers and 21 crew members on board with no reported injuries. No pollution was reported, and no hull breach occurred. The Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore from Cordova, and two HH-60 helicopters and a C-130 aircraft from Kodiak were deployed to assist. Spirit of Columbia reported no damage had occurred and Coast Guard air assets were released from scene. The Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore escorted the Spirit of Columbia back to Whittier. Weather conditions on scene at the time of the grounding were 2 - 4 ft. seas and visibility at 4 - 6 miles.
