Station Gulfport News

Three boaters were rescued Wednesday after their yacht collided with a tug near Bay St. Louis, Miss.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Mobile received a report Wednesday of a 53-foot yacht and a tug vessel pulling two barges were involved in a collision. Sector Mobile watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Station Gulfport 45-foot Response Boat–Medium boatcrew to assist.The response boatcrew arrived on scene, embarked the three boaters from the yacht and transported them to Bay St.

Emergency responders have extinguished a fire aboard a barge adrift approximately 2 miles west of Cat Island, Miss. U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders received a report at approximately 1:20 p.m. Thursday that a barge being pushed by the tug vessel Kathryn T. Devall caught fire with a reported 2,500 tons of anhydrous ammonia and 800 gallons of diesel fuel. The Gulfport Fire Department has extinguished the fire after the tug crew was unable to put out the blaze and released the barge from the tug. No injuries have been reported.

U.S. Crewmembers of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Station Montauk held a change of command and retirement ceremony in Montauk, N.Y., Thursday. Capt. Edward J. Cubanski, commander, Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, presided over the ceremony to transfer command of Station Montauk from Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason Walter to Senior Chief Petty Officer Eric Best. Best comes to Montauk after recently serving as the executive petty officer of Station Gulfport, Miss. Walter retired after serving 20 years in the USCG.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported that it assisted one person aboard a grounded vessel north of Cat Island, Monday. The operator of the vessel contacted Coast Guard Station Gulfport watchstanders reporting their sailing vessel was aground and in need of assistance. The person was requesting to be removed from the vessel due to deteriorating weather conditions. Coast Guard Sector Mobile, Ala., directed the launch of a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and aircrew to assist. Once on scene, the aircrew hoisted the person aboard and transported him to Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans to awaiting family members. There were no reported injuries. uscgnews.com

The Coast Guard Cutter Pompano, an 87-ft. Coastal Patrol Boat, will be commissioned into service in a ceremony at Coast Guard Station Gulfport on December 14 at 10 a.m. The Pompano, homported in Gulfport, is a new Marine Protector Class vessel capable of performing search and rescue, law enforcement, fisheries patrols, drug interdiction, and alien interdiction duties up to 200 miles offshore. Key speakers at the ceremony include Mississippi Rep. Ronnie Shows, and the Eighth Coast Guard District Commander, Rear Adm. Roy J. Casto. Lt. Daniel Jones, commanding officer of the Pompano, will lead a crew of 10. The Marine Protector Class is designed to replace the aging 82-ft. Point Class cutters.

It was a busy night Friday, May 3, as several mariners required the assistance of the Coast Guard units around the New Orleans and Galveston, Texas, areas. A 23-ft. safeboat from Station Grand Isle, La., was dispatched to assist a 45-ft. pleasure craft taking on water in Timbalier Bay, about10 p.m. Friday. The crew of the safeboat passed a de-watering pump to the five-man crew of the First Class, who were able to safely transit to the pier at Coco Marina. The Coast Guard crew followed to ensure their safe transit and mooring. In a separate case, a 41-ft. utility boat from Station Galveston safely transported a man suffering from abdominal pains with a weak pulse and shallow respiration from a tanker about 2 a.m. Saturday.

A Coast Guard rescue helicopter crew based out of New Orleans rescued two men off the Gulfport coast late Friday night. The men were on a 12-ft. aluminum skiff traveling from Bayou Caddy to Bayou Bolan when their vessel capsized. The gentlemen were reported overdue to Coast Guard Station Gulfport by a family member. The rescue helicopter launched from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans and experienced heavy rain showers, strong winds, and extremely low visibility in the search area. During a break in the weather, the helicopter crew used night-vision goggles to locate the overturned vessel and the two men in the Point Clear wetlands. The helicopter crew rapidly hoisted the men and airlifted them in stable condition to Gulport-Biloxi International Airport.

The cupola of the Ship Island Lighthouse was delivered and placed on the top of the lighthouse this morning by a helicopter from USCG Air Station New Orleans. The 900 lbs. copula was placed on the newly reconstructed lighthouse. The friends of the National Seashore Foundation, National Park Service and the Naval Seabee's are coordinating the project. Over the last six months, USCG Station Gulfport and Aids to Navigation Team Gulfport assisted in the delivery of supplies and personnel to the island for the project. There has been a lighthouse on Ship Island, Miss. since 1850's. At that time a predecessor of the modern Day Coast Guard, the U.S. Lighthouse Service, manned it. The lighthouse stood at the spot until is was accidentally burned down in 1971.

A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station New Orleans and a boat crew from Station Gulfport are searching for a Northport, Ala., man that fell overboard from the Carnival cruise ship Conquest between 12 and 1 a.m. this morning. The accident occurred in a stretch of the Gulfport ship canal between Cat Island and Ship Island. The crews of motor vessel Pattiesmack, a Gulfport pilot boat and boats from the Harrison County Sheriff's Office, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and the National Park Service are assisting with the search. The Conquest safely moored in Gulfport at about 1:30 a.m. this morning. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Mobile is working with the Harrison County Sheriff's Office to investigate this incident.

The Coast Guard’s current emphasis is the safety and security of people in the areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina, and is working closely with federal, state and local partners on that goal. Coast Guard air and boat crews have assisted in the rescue of 1,259 people, and they are continuing to respond to distress calls. The Coast Guard is working with FEMA, and is delivering relief supplies aboard its C-130 cargo planes. There are approximately 4,000 Coast Guardsmen currently in the area working on response and recovery, as well as 15 cutters, 37 airplanes and rescue helicopters, 63 small boats, three maritime safety and security teams, three oil and hazardous material response teams and five aid to navigation teams.