Southeastern New England News

Naval shipyards and industry partners see business growing, but finding enough trained and qualified workers is a challenge.General Dynamics Electric Boat will invest $1.7 billion to modernize and upgrade its Quonset, R.I. and Groton, Conn., facilities over the next ten years,” said Sean Davies , vice president for EB’s Quonset Point Operations. “Here at Quonset, we are investing $700 million that will increase our outfitting space by 13 acres, to support work on the Virginia and Columbia class of submarines.

Three mariners were rescued from a disabled barge Wednesday after their tug sank off the coast of Point Judith, R.I.At 8:17 a.m., watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England, in Woods Hole, Mass., received a call via VHF Channel 16 from the tug Warthog, reporting their vessel was taking on water, and had a barge in tow. A Coast Guard Station Point Judith 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew immediately launched to assist, and when they arrived on scene, the tug was completely submerged, and all three Warthog crewmembers were on the 108-foot barge.

First Coast Guard District command center crews, from Maine to Northern New Jersey, have a new tool to help distressed mariners come home to their families after being out to sea.The i911 program allows for watchstanders to use a mariner’s cellphone number to assist in finding their location for Coast Guard rescue crews to locate them faster. Once the number is entered, the mariner receives a text message authorizing them to share their location with the U.S. Coast Guard. Once shared…

Ørsted US Offshore Wind has hired former U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) officer Ed LeBlanc as Manager of Marine Affairs.The company operates Block Island Wind Farm, America’s first offshore wind farm said that  LeBlanc has over 40 years of experience in the USCG, most recently serving as the Chief of Waterways Management Division, Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England since 2003.“We are thrilled to add such an accomplished veteran of the USCG to our team. Ed’s breadth of experience will be a significant addition to the Marine Affairs department,” said John O’Keeffe Head of Marine Affairs U.S. for Ørsted.In addition to his experience with waterway management, Mr.

New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Vila Nova do Corvo II, Inc., company managers Carlos Rafael and Stephanie Rafael DeMello, and vessel captain Carlos Pereira agreed to pay a total of $511,000 in civil penalties and to perform vessel improvements.This was to ensure compliance measures to resolve federal Clean Water Act claims stemming from oily bilge discharges from the commercial fishing vessel Vila Nova do Corvo II, a related discharge of fuel oil filters, and violations of pollution control regulations.The United States filed the complaint in this action in April 2019 in the U.S.

The cruise ship Star Pride has regained power after becoming disabled about two miles off the coast of Cuttyhunk, Mass. last week.The ship’s captain reported to U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector Southeastern New England at about 3:20 p.m., Friday that the vessel had lost power and was disabled.Coast Guard crews and the Buzzards Bay Task Force launched and surrounded the 440-foot, 9,975-grt cruise ship to ensure the safety of 191 passengers and 160 crewmembers on board the ship.

Challenge Fisheries LLC, Quinn Fisheries Inc., Charles Quinn II, and Charles Quinn III have agreed to pay a total of $414,000 in civil penalties and to perform fleet-wide improvements and other compliance assurance measures to resolve federal Clean Water Act claims stemming from oily bilge discharges from the commercial fishing vessel Challenge, and a related fuel oil discharge in August 2017 in New Bedford Harbor, Mass., the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard announced.In its complaint filed Monday, along with the lodging of a consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the United States alleges…

A U.S. Coast Guard aircrew rescued four people from a sinking fishing boat Wednesday, about 18 miles south of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. The captain of the vessel Sea Star radioed watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England at about 6:20 p.m., reporting their vessel was taking on water, listing heavily, and they were donning their immersion suits. Diverting from a training flight, aircrews from an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and HC-144 Ocean Sentry arrived on scene.

In 1869, the U.S. Navy’s first research facility—the Naval Torpedo Station—was built on Newport, Rhode Island’s Goat Island. This rich history continues today, as the state is home to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, which provides the technical foundation to ensure the U.S. Navy’s undersea superiority. Fitting for “the Ocean State,” we have identified more than 170 Rhode Island organizations that touch undersea technology—and we believe that is a conservative count. We are a cluster leader not just in New England but indeed in the entire country.

The U.S. Coast Guard and local responders have rescued 55 people stranded aboard a high-speed ferry that hit a jetty while entering Hyannis Harbor, Mass. The local fire department notified Coast Guard watchstanders at about 9:30 p.m. Friday and reported that the Massachusetts Steamship Authority Ferry Iyanough, which serves Nantucket to Hyannis, struck the jetty and grounded on the rocks. A Coast Guard helicopter crew medevacd five injured passengers and airlifted 10 uninjured people who were unable to navigate the jetty’s rocks to get aboard the response boats. The remaining passengers and ferry crewmembers were rescued by Coast Guard response boat crews. Multiple units from the Cape Cod Mutual Response System assisted with the rescue efforts.

The 86-foot fishing vessel Buzzards Bay, which became disabled with five people aboard 50 miles northeast of Cape Cod, was towed in by U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane on Tueday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England were notified by the captain of the Buzzards Bay at around 3:30 a.m. that the boat was disabled due to a main diesel engine failure. Harriet Lane, a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Va., was diverted to assist and arrived on scene at around 8:30 a.m. The crew was able to safely put Buzzards Bay in tow at around 9:30 a.m.

A Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew medically evacuated a man from a fishing boat Saturday about 20 miles east of Nantucket. The master of the 67-foot fishing boat Sassy Girl, homeported in Virginia, contacted Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England watchstanders at about 3 p.m. reporting a crewmember suffered a hand injury and needed medical attention. The Coast Guard flight surgeon recommended a medevac and a helicopter rescue crew from Air Station Cape Cod launched. "The boat's master took action and provided first aid until the Coast Guard crew arrived on scene," said Petty Officer 1st Class Andy Case, the search and rescue coordinator at Sector Southeastern New England.

U.S. Coast Guard crews from Southeastern New England conducted various evolutions with the Royal Canadian Navy to train and improve the inter-operability of the two nations’ militaries and surface search and rescue assets. Coast Guard Station Woods Hole, Station Provincetown, and Air Station Cape Cod and HMCS Summerside conducted homeland security, anti-terrorism, search and rescue, and medical evacuation operations. The training commenced in Buzzards Bay, Monday with a Coast Guard Station Woods Hole 29-foot Response Boat Small simulating a boat protesting against the Royal Canadian Navy. The attack vessel, represented by the Coast Guard small boat, approached HMCS Summerside prompting the ships crew to stand up their force protection measures to defend the ship.

Crews aboard two Coast Guard cutters brought an 83-foot fishing vessel safely to anchorage at approximately 8 p.m. Sunday. Watchstanders at the First Coast Guard District Command Center, were notified at 11:30 a.m. Saturday that the scallop fishing vessel Chaz’s Toy lost propulsion during a living marine resource boarding by the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba crew 120 miles southeast of Nantucket. The crew of the 270-ft Escanaba issued a marine assistance request broadcast for Chaz’s Toy soliciting commercial or good Samaritan assistance for the vessel, which went unanswered. The cutter took the vessel in stern tow at approximately 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The following morning, the crew of the 110-foot Tybee relieved the Escanaba crew and continued to bring the vessel toward shore.

U.S. A disabled fishing vessel was brought in safely to shore early Monday by U.S. Coast Guard crews aboard the cutters Escanaba and Hammerhead. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England Command Center in Woods Hole, Mass. received a phone call from the captain of the vessel Challenger Sunday morning, stating a line had fouled their propeller, and they were disabled and adrift 70 miles southeast of Nantucket, Mass. Search and rescue coordinators from the Sector Southeastern New England command center diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba and Hammerhead to assist.

The U.S. Coast Guard informs it is investigating the sinking of the fishing vessel Robert C that occurred near Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Monday. The sole person aboard fishing vessel Robert C radioed Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England's Command Center at 12:08 p.m Monday, stating the vessel was taking on water 1.5 miles northwest of Menemsha following a collision with another the fishing vessel, Pedlar, both home-ported in Fairhaven. Coast Guard Station Menemsha immediately issued a Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and launched a 47-foot Motor Life Boat. While the boat crew was in route, the fishing vessel Robert C sank. Fishing vessel Shearwater, home-ported in New Bedford Harbor, recovered the person in the water and delivered the person to Menemsha Harbor.

The Coast Guard is responding to a fishing boat taking on water 130 miles east of Nantucket, Massachusetts, Saturday. At about 12:45 a.m., the fishing vessel Athena’s crew reported to Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England watchstanders in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, that the Miss Shauna, a 51-foot fishing boat with seven people aboard, was taking on water through a hole in the boat’s engine room. The Coast Guard established communications with the crew of the Miss Shauna, and they reported their pumps were keeping up with the flooding, but the rate of flooding was increasing. An HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft crew and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, launched with pumps for the boat.

The Coast Guard terminated the trip of a 23-foot charter vessel today in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, due to an expired operator's license and evidence of illegal fishing. During a random safety boarding, a crew from Coast Guard Station Woods Hole, Massachusetts, boarded the vessel and discovered the master's license had expired in 2008. Upon further inspection, the crew found black sea bass which were illegally caught during the off season. Black sea bass season does not open until May 23rd in the State of Massachusetts. The Station Woods Hole crew escorted the vessel and its five passengers back to the dock. Upon arrival at the dock, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection found more than 100 black sea bass aboard and seized the catch.

The U.S. Coast Guard held a ribbon cutting ceremony today at Coast Guard Station Menemsha to mark the opening of a new boathouse on Martha’s Vineyard in Chilmark, Massachusetts. The event unveils the new building after the old boathouse burned down on July 12, 2010. Attendees included U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, Coast Guard 1st District Commander Rear Adm. Linda Fagan, and Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England Commander Capt. John Kondratowicz. "The new boathouse has dramatically increased the readiness of Station Menemsha,” said Senior Chief Robert Riemer, the Station’s officer in charge. “The facility’s strategic design enables crews to effectively and efficiently conduct necessary boat maintenance.

Coast Guard crews rescued two fishermen from a sinking vessel 10 miles south of Newport, Rhode Island, Monday. At approximately noon, the two person crew of the 38-foot fishing boat More Misery notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England in Woods Hole, Massachusetts that they were taking on water and needed help. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and two 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crews from Coast Guard Station Castle Hill and Coast Guard Station Point Judith were launched. The Station Castle Hill crew arrived on scene and successfully transferred the two fishermen aboard. Shortly after, Coast Guard crews began dewatering the More Misery and safely towed it back to Newport.

A Coast Guard crew responded to a fishing vessel trapped in ice in Woods Hole Passage, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Saturday. At about 3 p.m., the crew of the fishing boat Capt. RM Chase notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England that they became lodged in ice while returning to New Bedford, Massachusetts after a fishing trip. A Coast Guard aids-to-navigation team aboard a 49-foot Stern Loading Buoy Boat from Woods Hole was breaking ice nearby and diverted to assist the four-person crew. They arrived on scene, and at about 3:30 p.m., the Coast Guard crew freed the the Capt. RM Chase from the ice. “Even with today’s higher temperature…

Winter Storm Juno, which has brought snow and gale force winds to the North East Coast of the United States, is causing severe disruption to shipping across the entire coastline. Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) advises that with snow accumulation likely to exceed two feet, closures are now in place at the Port of New York & New Jersey and Long Island Sound Point Judith Pilot Station. The severity of the storm has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Winter Storm Warning and Coastal Flood Warning for Southeastern New England. Current predictions estimate sustained north-northeast winds as high as 40 knots, with gusts up to 65 knots along the coast. In Northern New England, the U.S. Coast Guard has set port conditions to X-Ray for coastal Maine and New Hampshire.

Coast Guard pollution responders, and the Fairhaven Harbormaster responded to a report of a large oil sheen in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts Friday morning. At 2:00 p.m. Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England was notified by a local, experienced mariner of a possible pollution sheen in Buzzard's Bay. Response crews with a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod, a 29-foot response boat from Station Woods Hole, and a 45-foot response boat medium from Station Menemsha responded along with Coast Guard personnel from Marine Safety Detachment New Bedford and the Fairhaven Harbormaster. After Coast Guard assets arrived on-scene, they did not find any pollution; rather they discovered a large area of jellyfish.