Station Lorain News

The U.S. Coast Guard assisted two people on Lake Erie Tuesday evening after their vessel began taking on water. Just before 4:30 p.m., mariners aboard a 20-foot vessel notified Coast Guard Station Lorain, Ohio, that they were taking on water one mile north of Lorain Harbor. Station Lorain issued an urgent marine information broadcast, which informs mariners of a distress situation and asks them to keep a sharp lookout, assist if possible, and report any sightings to the nearest Coast Guard unit. A Station Lorain boat crew launched aboard a 45-foot response boat and arrived on scene three miles north of Lorain Harbor and found the vessel's engine was flooded and unable to be started. The boat crew embarked the two people, began dewatering the vessel with a P-6 dewatering pump.

The crew of Coast Guard Station Lorain show their new Response Boat-Medium to press and public at their Lake Erie station. Crew members say they have have been running tests on Lake Erie and have found that the RB-M responds faster than previous boats of similar size, with a top speed in excess of 40 knots. It also is equipped with advanced search capability, including forward-looking infrared search technology. It can handle waves up to 12 feet and can carry as many as 25 people.