U.S. Coast Guard Rescues 26 in Antarctic
The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued an Australian fishing vessel carrying 26 people that had been stranded in icy Antarctic seas since last week, the Coast Guard said on Tuesday. The crew was saved on Sunday by the Coast Guard cutter Polar Star, which broke through some 150 miles (240 km) of thick ice on its way to the 207-foot (63-meter) Antarctic Chieftain vessel, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The Chieftain had been stuck about 900 miles (1,450 km) northeast of McMurdo Sound since last Tuesday, after damaging three of its four propellers in the ice, the Coast Guard said. "There were some very happy sailors aboard Antarctic Chieftain upon our arrival," Polar Star commanding officer, Captain Matthew Walker, said in a statement.
Coast Guard Finds Stranded Sailor on Barge
Russell Bolton, 51, of Green Cove Springs, Fla., tells boarding officers about his ordeal. The Coast Guard received a call from the tug Ybor City from Jacksonville, Fla., reporting they had a stowaway aboard the 115-foot barge they were towing. A Coast Guard boarding team along with a Customs and Border Protection officer thought they were going to detain a possible stow away. Actually, Bolton's sailing vessel collided with the barge before sunrise that morning. Bolton had to jump aboard the barge to keep from falling in the water. Coast Guard and CBP officers verified the man's story and took him back to shore. Coast Guard photo by PA1 Donnie Brzuska. The Coast Guard has removed a man found on a barge this morning whose sailing vessel collided with a tug and barge.
