Personal Flotation Devices News

A new safety alert issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urges vessel owners and operators to provide each crewmember with a personal locator device. These devices improve a mariner’s chance of rescue during an emergency.During an emergency at sea, a mariner’s chance of survival decreases if search and rescue cannot quickly and accurately identify their location. Personal locator devices, such as personal locator beacons (PLB) or satellite emergency notification devices (SEND), can accurately pinpoint a person’s location.

Surveyors from the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency are to carry out unannounced inspections of fishing vessels across the UK with the aim of increasing safety in the industry after a growing number of fatalities."The inspections are being carried out as part of ongoing work around fishing vessel safety in an industry-recognized to be one of the dangers in the world," the MCA said.According to the Agency, since November 2020, there have been eight deaths – more than ten percent of the total for the previous ten years.

The captain of the World War Two-style tourist "duck boat" that sank on a Missouri lake during a storm in July killing 17 people was charged on Thursday with misconduct, negligence and inattention to duty by a federal grand jury, prosecutors said.Kenneth Scott McKee, 51, of Verona, Missouri, was charged in a 17-count indictment, one count for each of the passengers who died when the vessel sank on July 19.McKee was captain of the vessel operated by Ripley Entertainment Inc, which ran duck boat tours in Branson…

Training and attention to detail saves lives. Kevin Suarez at Statue Cruises is the living embodiment of that maritime metric. For any first time visitor to the Big Apple, the trip probably wouldn’t be complete without seeing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. To that end, Statue Cruises’ main focus is to create a smooth passenger experience and serve as the gateway to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island for the over 4.4 million tourists who visit both islands annually. Collectively, they run eight vessels that service the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island routes and two smaller vessels with the Liberty Landing Ferry, which Statue Cruises operates, that runs between Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ and the World Financial Center, in lower Manhattan.

The Coast Guard rescued three individuals from the water in Tomales Bay, Sunday morning. At approximately 8:30 a.m., Coast Guard Sector San Francisco Command Center personnel received notification that three individuals went into the water just off Lawson's Landing when their raft deflated. Watchstanders coordinated with Coast Guard Station Bodega Bay, who launched a rescue boatcrew and notified Inverness Fire Department of the incident. Sector San Francisco issued a Urgent Marine Information Broadcast for anyone in the area to assist, and launched an aircrew from Air Station San Francisco. Once on scene, the Station Bodega Bay rescue…

The Coast Guard 9th District honored 75 years of service from the Coast Guard Auxiliary in a ceremony at the Coast Guard Cleveland moorings today. What began as fishermen and private boaters reporting sightings of U-boats in American Coastal waters has evolved into the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Auxiliary was established in 1939 to facilitate the operations of the Coast Guard. Starting out as the Coast Guard Reserve, it was split into a military reserve branch and auxiliary operation in February 1941. During WWII the volunteers provided search and rescue support, patrol and picket duties, port security, and limited aviation patrols. The 30,521 members of the modern day Auxiliary use 3,415 operational vessels, 236 aircraft, and 2,459 communication stations to patrol U.S.

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar officially launched the Coast Guard’s new state-of-the-art S92 search and rescue helicopter for the Dublin region in Weston Airport. This is the fourth Sikorsky S92 helicopter base to come into operation for the Coast Guard and means all four Coast Guard bases now have upgraded helicopters. The new S92 helicopters replace the Sikorsky S61 which was in use until recently at the Coast Guard bases in Dublin, Shannon, Sligo and Waterford.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Wednesday publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking to remove references to type codes in its regulations on the carriage and labeling of Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices (PFDs). PFD type codes are unique to Coast Guard approval and are not well understood by the general public. The current PFD type code classification system is planned to be redesigned to focus on performance criteria rather than construction standards. A new easy-to-understand label concept is intended to help both professional mariners and recreational boaters select the best device for their intended uses and routes.

The acquisition marks the Safariland Group’s entrance into marine and aviation industries. The Safariland Group, a manufacturer of protective products and equipment primarily for law enforcement and the military, has acquired Mustang Survival and its related entities, Mustang Survival Inc. and Mustang Survival Mfg., Inc. Mustang Survival is the North American market leader in lifesaving equipment for recreational, military, law enforcement and industrial users in the marine and aviation environments. For more than 45 years, Mustang Survival has been transforming innovative ideas and technologies into high-quality and practical lifesaving products such as inflatable personal flotation devices…

The Safariland Group, a  manufacturer of protective products and equipment primarily for law enforcement and the military, has acquired Mustang Survival and its related entities, Mustang Survival Inc. and Mustang Survival Mfg., Inc. (collectively, “Mustang Survival”). Mustang Survival is in the North American market for lifesaving equipment for recreational, military, law enforcement and industrial users in the marine and aviation environments. For more than 45 years, Mustang…

Multiple agencies and Amver ship work together to rescue 10 from the Philippine Sea, 90 miles NE of Palau. The U.S. Coast Guard in coordination with the Republic of Palau Division of Maritime Law Enforcement and the Royal Australian Navy Maritime Surveillance Advisor partnered to provide assistance. The mariners in distress originated their voyage on a 60-foot traditional sailing canoe traveling from Palau to the outer islands of Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia.

RECALL NOTICE ON MD2010 & MD2012 model 22LB Inflatable Personal Flotation Devices. The United States Coast Guard strongly urges mariners and boaters alike to check their Mustang Survival PFDs. Mustang Survival is voluntarily recalling all model number MD2010 and MD2012 This recall is being issued for the inspection and repair of an inflator installation inconsistency thatSurvival has developed a solution that corrects any affected product and prevents re-occurrence of this issue. The inspection and repair can only be performed at a Mustang Survival factory. This recall notification is for only the MD2010 and MD2012 22LB buoyancy inflatable PFDs. No other Mustang Survival products are affected as they utilize different inflator mechanisms.

With the tragic deaths of three Massachusetts fishermen last weekend still resonating throughout the community, the Coast Guard continues to enforce boating safety regulations and, when necessary, force vessels to return to port to correct hazardous conditions. Two Bar Harbor, Maine-based fishing vessels, and one Scituate, Mass., based fishing vessel were boarded and consequently escorted back to their respective ports Tuesday after Coast Guard boarding teams discovered multiple safety violations. "We don't terminate fishing voyages because we're trying to make life difficult for the fishermen," said Ted Harrington, the First Coast Guard District's commercial fishing vessel safety specialist. "We terminate the voyages because we're concerned about the safety of the crew.

Stearns Inc., a manufacturer of Personal Flotation Devices (PFD’s) acquired SOS and Sospenders, a market leader in inflatable PFD’s for a variety of water sports uses. According to Paul Ebnet, President of Stearns, “Sospenders products offer an excellent opportunity for Stearns to expand our presence in the fast-growing inflatable PFD market and provide us with additional opportunities for our current and new customers alike. With the increasing focus on comfort by water sports enthusiasts, Sospenders is a great fit for Stearns. Both Stearns and Sospenders have a long history of producing innovative products with the safety and comfort of boaters in mind.”

The Coast Guard is responding to a cruise ship that ran aground this morning after taking on water in the Intercoastal Waterway near the Pungo region of Virginia Beach, Va. The cruise ship Spirit of Nantucket with 66 people onboard notified the Coast Guard after the vessel began taking on water. The captain of the vessel purposely ran it aground to prevent the ship from sinking. An MH-60 Jayhawk Rescue Helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., is en-route with dewatering pumps. Two 25-foot rescue crews and a 41-foot utility boat from Coast Guard Station's Elizabeth City and Portsmouth, Virginia Beach Police Department, Virginia State Police Department and a Chesapeake, Va., marine unit are also responding.