Passengers Taken Off Stranded Savannah Casino Boat
The U.S. Coast Guard informs that the casino boat 'Escapade' is moored at its homeport and is no longer aground in Calibogue Sound near Tybee Island, Georgia. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Tybee Island were notified the Escapade had ran aground with 94 passengers and 31 staff and crewmembers aboard during the ship’s maiden voyage. Coast Guard crews from Station Tybee Island, Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Georgia, and the Coast Guard Cutters Tarpon and Maria Bray worked together to take off 118 passengers and non-essential crew and staff from the Escapade. The 174-foot vessel subsequently freed itself under its own power when high tide came without the help of commercial salvage boats and transited to its homeport at Bull River Marina in Savannah…
Coast Guard Tests Oil Recovery System
The Coast Guard is scheduled to deploy its Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System Tuesday at 3 p.m. from the Coast Guard Cutter Maria Bray in the St. Johns River during a training exercise. VOSS is designed to be transported to an oil spill site and convert any suitable ship available (commercial, private or government-owned vessel) into a single ship, oil-recovery platform. The Coast Guard has 19 of these systems pre-positioned nationwide for pollution response. This VOSS deployment is part of Sector Jacksonville's three-day training program designed to better prepare Sector Jacksonville personnel for a hazardous materials spill on the First Coast. The training includes extensive classroom discussion and hands-on training for VOSS deployment. The Maria Bray is a 175-ft.
ANT Jacksonville Change of Command
Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Jacksonville Officer in Charge Senior Chief Petty Officer Andrew M. Engle will pass command to Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. Tully, Thursday at 10 a.m. during a ceremony held at the Aids to Navigation Team Jacksonville, Fla. Engle took on the responsibilities as the Officer in Charge of the ANT in 1999. He will go on to take the duties as the executive petty officer on board the Coast Guard Cutter Maria Bray homeported in Mayport, Fla. Tully’s previous assignment was the Officer in Charge of the Aids to Navigation Team San Diego, Calif. Tully and his crew of 18 will be responsible for more than 1,100 aids to navigations from Tybee, Ga., to Ponce de Leon Inlet, Fla., including more than 150 miles of shoreline along the St. Johns River.
