Accidents and Vessel Casualties

M/V Isabella sank two miles west of Ft. Pierce, Fla. USCG Group Miami dispatched a Coast Guard Station (CGSTA) Fort Pierce utility boat (UTB). The crew was removed by the UTB prior to the vessel sinking. Passenger vessel Monarch of the Seas went aground in Saint Philipsburg, Dutch Saint Maarten. The P/V was returning to port because its pumps could not keep up with the flooding after hitting a reef during its departure from port. The National Response Center received a report of a tug pushing three barges that ran aground along the Lower Mississippi River near Helena, Ark. The lead barge experienced damage resulting in the release of 1,700 barrels of unleaded gasoline. The remaining product was removed and the barge was floated off the rocks. A collision occurred near the mouth of Galveston Bay, involving 603 ft. freighter Columbus Canada and 82 ft. F/V Black Sheep. Three crewmembers onboard the F/V were rescued by a nearby Houston Pilots Association boat as the F/V sank. The next morning, Black Sheep was located aground outside of the Houston ship channel. Salvage contractors were unable to recover the vessel due to poor weather conditions. Panamanian M/V Faro 1 reported it had picked up 10 Haitians citizens from Haitian M/V Diana Express. The vessel had been en route Miami for dockside repairs when it started taking on water and sunk inside Cuban waters. Cutter Reliance took the survivors aboard and returned the survivors to Port Au Paix, Haiti. Group Galveston received a report from M/V Violetta, a 578-ft. bulk freighter, indicating they had a main space fire burning out of control. No other vessels in the anchorage were impacted and the channel was unaffected. Although no pollution was reported, the vessel had 47,000 gal. of diesel and 117,600 gal. of fuel oil on board. USCGC Northland recovered 21 crewmembers from M/V Chios Fighter, which had grounded approximately 120 miles east of Nicaragua. All were transferred to a Colombian naval vessel for subsequent transfer to shore. F/Vs Allyssa and Zachary and California sank together at the Twin Pier in New Bedford, Mass. releasing approximately 400 gal. of diesel fuel and waste oil into New Bedford Harbor. Both vessels were boomed off and their fuel vents were plugged by divers. The cause of the sinkings is under investigation by the USCG. USCG officials from MSO Morgan City, La. investigated the capsizing of a dredge tender on the eastern side of Atchafalaya Bay, that killed an Opelousas, La. man. Kevin Dekerlegand, 20, was a crewman aboard 25-ft. Lady Cindy when it capsized, and tossed its two crewmen into the water. Glen Ritches, 30, of Lou Ann, Ark. was the second crewman and was able to climb back aboard the dredge after the accident. A nearby crewboat picked up Ritches and took him to a nearby barge. USCG MSO Miami responded to the scene of stranded freight ship, St. Innocent off Miami Beach, culminating with the 96 ft.vessel being removed from the beach. There were no injuries or pollution as a result of the incident. Approximately 800 gal. of oily water and diesel fuel were pumped from the vessel in an effort to lighten the vessel prior to its refloating at high tide. USCG Group St. Petersburg received a call from the master of Captain Justin, a 72-ft. wooden shrimp boat. The boat, with two people on board, hit a mooring buoy approximately two miles east of Egmont Key, Fla. The boat then struck a barge, GL-230 and was taking on water. The two people onboard the boat were picked up by a Tampa Bay Tug Pilot near the boat when it sank. The two fishermen had abandoned the boat and were in a raft when they were rescued. Tug Camile Cenac and 235-ft. tank barge CTCO 2601, which grounded on Tampa Bay approximately four miles east of Pt. Pinellas carrying approximately 966,000 gal. of hydraulic oil, was successfully refloated. Although there was no pollution, the vessel activated its pollution response plan and approximately 1,000 ft. of boom and two pollution response vessels were deployed as a precautionary measure. F/V Misty Dawn heard a distress call from F/V Cape Fear that Cape Fear was taking on water near Buzzards Bay Light. Misty Dawn was only six to 10 minutes away so they responded to help. Upon the arrival of Misty Dawn in the area, the crew found the lights of Cape Fear were out and the vessel was not in sight. The crew of Misty Dawn pulled three of the five crewmembers of Cape Fear out of the water. While searching for the other two, the vessel struck Cape Fear and began to take on water itself. Misty Dawn headed for a pier in New Bedford. Cape Fear is upside down and approximately 20 percent out of the water. Seven people were saved after a USCG Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted them from their burning tugboat 100 miles southwest of Yakutat. The crew aboard 117-ft. Sea Vixen, based in Seattle, called a mayday reporting that fire raged out of control aboard their vessel. Two salvage tugboats from Valdez, Alaska, Sea Voyager and Sea Horse, traveled to the abandoned, smoldering tug and the fertilizer-filled barge it towed. Sea Vixen is owned by Crowley Marine Services of Seattle.