Sector North News

The 2023 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea has been presented to Caleb Halle, Aviation Survival Technician Second Class (AST2) of the United States Coast Guard (USCG). He was recognized for the outstanding courage, endurance and determination he showed during the rescue of the seven-strong crew of the tugboat Legacy in January 2023.AST2 Halle, based at the Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, received the award at the annual IMO Awards Ceremony in London. The ceremony…

Four divers that went missing off the U.S. East Coast on Sunday were rescued Monday 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, N.C.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector North Carolina initially received a notification Sunday from Coast Guard Sector Charleston stating four men were diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. near noon, and had not resurfaced. Sectors Charleston and North Carolina coordinated a multi-asset…

The U.S. Coast Guard said it has temporarily relieved Capt. Matthew Baer from command of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina, Tuesday, June 20, 2023.Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath, Fifth Coast Guard District commander, temporarily relieved Baer due to a loss of confidence in his ability to effectively command the sector, pending an administrative investigation and final determination.The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to MarineLink's request for comment.Cmdr. Courtney Sergent…

North Star Renewables, a North Star Shipping subsidiary established earlier this year to target offshore wind business opportunities, said Monday it had finalized a funding package of £96 million (around $131 million) to build its new renewables vessel fleet.The Aberdeen-based company has contracts in hand worth around £270 million (~$368 million), to deliver three service operation vessels (SOVs) to be used on what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 3.6GW Dogger…

Norway-based crane maker Red Rock has won a contract with shipbuilder Vard to deliver equipment for three service offshore vessels (SOVs) Vard is building in Vietnam for the UK-based shipowner North Star Renewables. The vessels will be operating on the first two phases of what will be the world's largest offshore wind farm - the Dogger Bank wind farm in the UK North Sea.Red Rock will deliver 2 x 2T 3D Motion Compensated cranes, 1 x 5T 3D Motion Compensated crane, 3 x 2T Boat landing cranes, and 3 x 1T Shipboard crane.

Aberdeen-based offshore vessel owner North Star Renewables has won contracts worth around £270 million (~$375 million), to deliver three service operation vessels (SOVs) to be used on what will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the UK North Sea.North Star said its contract award followed a highly-competitive tender process, in which it had beat off strong international competition to secure the deal to design and deliver the three-vessel…

The U.S. Coast Guard said it lit a first-of-its-kind LED-based rotating beacon at Oak Island Lighthouse on Caswell Beach, N.C., Monday.This upgrade is the Coast Guard’s first LED-based rotating beacon for an active aid to navigation and will provide a permanent, cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for the lighthouse. Necessary renovations of the lighthouse to prepare for the new beacon began in October."Lighthouses have navigational and historic significance here in North Carolina," said Lt. Brittany Akers, chief of waterways management at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina.

Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL), a Singapore-based company that owns subsidiaries engaged in international shipping, was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan in New Bern, N.C., after pleading guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice, and for a failure to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on the cargo vessel Pac Antares.PCL pleaded guilty to a total of eight felony offenses across three judicial districts – the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Southern District of Texas, and the Eastern District of Louisiana. PCL was sentenced to pay a fine of $12 million…

Four people were rescued from a commercial fishing vessel that sank in Coos Bay, Ore. on Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The 40-foot Darean Rose capsized and sank shortly after leaving the fuel pier at the Charleston Marina with four people aboard who reported sustaining minor injuries.Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Bend were notified at 2:54 p.m. that the vessel had run aground and capsized right after departing the pier.A Coast Guard Station Coos Bay 29-foot Response…

A Unified Command was established on Wednesday afternoon to oversee the safe removal of fishing vessel Sea Angels, which ran aground in the vicinity of Browns Inlet, North Carolina.On Dec. 9, 2019, fishing vessel Sea Angels ran aground near a restricted navigation area in Browns Inlet, where the potential of unexploded military ordnance exists due to active live fire training in the area dating back to World War II.There is an estimated 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel onboard the fishing vessel…

A tugboat is partially sunk and leaking diesel after alliding with a bridge in North Carolina's Oregon Inlet, the U.S. Coast Guard said.All eight people aboard the tug Miss Bonnie reached shore safely without injury after the vessel struck the Old Bonner Bridge at 11:09 a.m. on Sunday.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received report from a local Coast Guard 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew at approximately 10:00 a.m. on Monday that a sheen was coming from the semi-submerged tug.The maximum potential for the discharge is 6…

The Coast Guard saved three mariners aboard a disabled sailing vessel more than 50 miles east southeast of Cape Lookout, Saturday evening.At 9:45 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received notification of the 36-foot disabled sailing vessel Cloud from Sea Tow. All persons aboard the sailing vessel had donned their life jackets and there were no injuries or medical concerns aboard.The Coast Guard launched Coast Guard Cutter Richard Snyder to assist, and diverted…

Flooding is expected to worsen in the coming days as the Coast Guard continues its relief efforts.The emergency is by no means over in North Carolina. As flooding is expected worsen across the Carolinas later this week in the choppy wake of Hurricane Florence, Coast Guard units across North Carolina are continuing to assess damage, and respond over a wide geographic area. Florence, responsible for 36 deaths in three states, continues to impact the Carolinas. Major waterways across the tri-state area of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia remain well above flood stages, and were expected to rise through the weekend before cresting, according to the National Weather Service said.

A Japanese shipping company will have to pay $1 million after being convicted and sentenced for obstruction of justice and falsification of an Oil Record Book to cover-up intentional pollution from bulk carrier M/V Atlantic Oasis.The company Nitta Kisen Kaisha Ltd., owner and operater of the Atlantic Oasis, admitted that its engineers failed to document the illegal discharge of oily wastes from the vessel’s fuel and lubrication oil purifier systems, as well as discharges of oily bilge waste from the bilge holding tank and from the vessel’s bilges when delivering steel products to Wilmington, N.C. in 2017.During a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the vessel on May 17…

U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina has restored radio communication capability Friday.Repairs were completed at approximately 4 a.m. after communications went down Thursday evening, leaving the Coast Guard unable to monitor radio traffic offshoreThe Coast Guard said HC-130 Hercules airplane had been launched Thursday night to monitor communications in the area on a temporary basis.

The U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA and Environmental Protection Agency are monitoring the tracking and assessment of more than six dozen stray cargo containers lost due to high winds and heavy seas about 17 miles off Oregon Inlet, N.C. On Sunday, March 4, the cargo ship Maersk Shanghai alerted watchstanders at Sector North Carolina’s command center that they lost about 70 cargo containers during a heavy roll. Maersk later confirmed the total number of containers lost overboard was 76 as well as their contents. A. P.

As many as 73 stray cargo containers pose threat to mariners off North Carolina.   The Coast Guard is warning mariners of navigation hazards after about 70 cargo containers fell off of a cargo ship Saturday night, about 17 miles off Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.   The cargo ship Maersk Shanghai contacted watchstanders at Sector North Carolina’s command center via VHF-FM marine radio channel 16, notifying them that they lost approximately 70 to 73 cargo containers due to high winds and heavy seas.   The Coast Guard urges all mariners to transit this area with caution.

Coast Guard Capt. Jerry Barnes assumed command of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina in Wilmington, N.C., Tuesday. Barnes reported to Sector North Carolina after serving as the 5th Coast Guard District's chief of prevention. Barnes, a specialist in marine safety, security, environmental protection and marine transportation system management, previously served at the Marine Safety Center in Washington, D.C., Sector Hampton Roads, in Portsmouth, Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, Fla., various staff positions at the 5th Coast Guard District, and aboard a 210-foot medium endurance cutter home ported in St. Petersburg, Fla. Barnes, a native of Raleigh, N.C., is a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He graduated from the U.S.

Two Greek shipping companies were sentenced to pay corporate penalties totaling $2.7 million after being convicted for obstructing justice, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), tampering with witnesses and conspiracy. Each company was ordered to pay part of its penalty to Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary in recognition of the threat posed by illegal discharges of oily waste to the marine environment. The case stems from an inspection of the M/V Ocean Hope, a large cargo ship, conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard at the Port of Wilmington, N.C. in July 2015. During that inspection, senior engineers for the companies tried to hide that the vessel had been dumping oily wastes into the ocean for months.

Coast Guard and local fire department crews responded to a mariner who had become lost while attempting to walk back from his vessel after it went soft aground in the Charleston South Slough, Friday. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Sector North Bend safely hoisted and transported the mariner to emergency medical personnel waiting at sector. Watchstanders at sector received an initial report at 2:49 p.m. from a good Samaritan who was concerned after seeing the 30-foot sailing vessel in the slough circling in the same spot. More good Samarita calls came in as people spotted the man on the ground and walking around his vessel after it had grounded.

Cassius Samson, 52, and Rustico Ignacio, 66, both of the Philippines, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard for the Eastern District of North Carolina to serve jail time for obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard inspection that took place in July 2015 aboard the cargo ship Ocean Hope at the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina. Samson was sentenced to a term of 12 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release and Ignacio to a term of nine months followed by a year of supervised release. Ignacio was the chief engineer and Samson the second engineer of the Ocean Hope. In September 2016, both were convicted of conspiracy, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, by a federal jury in Greenville, North Carolina.

North Carolina’s Beaufort Inlet Channel has been temporarily closed Thursday after a 590-foot cargo ship ran aground between buoys 16 and 17 in the channel. Watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call via landline at 1:15 p.m. that the bulk carrier Pola Palekh ran aground. The Malta-flagged vessel is carrying 35,800 metric tons of fertilizer and holds approximately 27,000 gallons of fuel oil. No injuries, pollution or damage to the ship have been reported. Sector North Carolina watchstanders issued a safety marine information broadcast and launched a 29-foot Response Boat-Small crew from Coast Guard Station Fort Macon to assess the cargo ship and the channel. The acting Captain of the Port for Sector North Carolina, Cmdr.

Coast Guard and partner agencies rescued five people Saturday from a capsized vessel about three miles off the coast of Carolina Beach. Sector North Carolina watchstanders in Wilmington received a mayday call at approximately 7:30 a.m. requesting help. -A C-130 Hercules aircraft crew and MH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City. -A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium (RBM) crew from Station Wrightsville Beach. -A 29-foot Response Boat-Small (RBS) crew from Station Oak Island. -16-foot skiff from Kure Beach Fire and Rescue. -A vehicle and jet ski from Carolina Beach Fire Department. The helicopter crew discovered a capsized 20-foot boat about three miles offshore at approximately 9:50 a.m.