5Th District Command Center News

An injured crewmember was medevaced Wednesday from a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier approximately 173 miles east of Morehead City, N.C., the U.S. Coast Guard said.Watchstanders with Coast Guard 5th District Command Center received a notification from the the 200-foot-long vessel PRT Ace, that a 29-year-old crewman on board had suffered burns while using the ship’s incinerator.The watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and…

A bulk carrier rescued two people from a sailboat disabled by rough weather approximately 345 miles east of Hatteras Inlet, N.C., Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s 5th District Command Center received notification from the International Emergency Rescue Coordination Center at approximately 9:30 a.m. that a GPS alert had been received from a vessel in distress. The alert also stated that the vessel was experiencing severe weather and that both…

A Gibralter-flagged car carrier rescued three Canadian mariners from their disabled sailing vessel in heavy seas of the North Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.Watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard's 5th District Command Center received notification from the Bermuda Rescue Coordination Center that a personal locator beacon was activated, watchstanders then determined the location of the three boaters in distress aboard the Esmeralda approximately 140 miles northeast of Bermuda.The captain of the sailing vessel informed the Bermuda Rescue Coordination Center that he had activated his emergency position indicating radio beacon after his concern…

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced an ailing crew member Saturday from a tanker off Virginia Beach.   Coast Guard watchstanders at the 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth received a call from the 574-foot, Japanese-flagged chemical tanker Buccoo Reef at about 2:30 a.m., stating a crewman was experiencing chest pains approximately 10 miles southeast of Cape Henry.   An MH-60 Jayhawker helicopter crew launched from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, at about 4:35 a.m., arrived on scene with Buccoo Reef at about 5:05 a.m. and hoisted the man aboard the helicopter.   The crew then transported him to Sentara Norfolk Hospital in Norfolk, arriving at about 5:40 a.m. The crew member was reported to be in stable condition.

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced an ailing man from a cruise ship Monday approximately 140 miles east of Cape Charles. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth received a call from the 951-foot cruise ship Carnival Splendor at approximately 5 p.m., requesting a medevac for a 73-year-old passenger experiencing health complications. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, launched at approximately 6 p.m. The helicopter crew arrived on scene at approximately 7 p.m., hoisted the man and a ship's nurse to the helicopter and took them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk.

The Coast Guard rescued two people Sunday from a sinking boat approximately 35 miles southeast of Ocean Isle Beach. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, received an alert at approximately 1 p.m. Sunday from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon registered to the 25-foot pleasure craft Quest, which is homeported in Ocean Isle Beach. Command center personnel issued an urgent marine information broadcast and contacted watchstanders at Shaw Air Force Base. Air Force personnel contacted the South Carolina Air National Guard's 169th Fighter Wing who confirmed the location of the vessel with the help of F-16s conducting training offshore.

The Coast Guard rescued two people Sunday who were reported missing after their 21-foot fishing boat sank approximately a mile west of Kiptopeke State Park. Rescued were Bonatacio Montalvo, 64, of Machipongo, Virginia, and Jose Rosales, 27. Eduardo Montalvo swam to shore and called 911 dispatchers, who relayed the distress to Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads watchstanders at approximately 3:25 a.m. reporting two people aboard the boat he was on were missing after the boat sank at approximately 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Sector watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and dispatched crews aboard a 25 -foot Response Boat - Small from Coast Guard Station Cape Charles and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said it coordinated the rescue of three people Thursday who were rescued by good Samaritans after their 41-foot sailboat, the Elusive, was beset by storms in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 350 miles east of Virginia Beach. Rescued are Larry Monesson, 60, Sean Monesoon, 40, and James Moore, 40. The father of James Moore contacted Coast Guard 5th District Command Center watchstanders at approximately 1 a.m. Thursday reporting he received a message via satellite phone from his son. The message stated the crew of the Elusive were experiencing high winds, 25-foot ocean swells and engine failure, but were attempting to repair the engine and not requesting assistance at the time.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) coordinated the rescue of three people and a dog Thursday approximately 900 miles northeast of Bermuda. Rescued was 29-year-old Henri Worthalter of Belgium, 55-year-old Leonard Rorke of the United Kingdom, 50-year-old Lisa Rorke of the United Kingdom and Dexter, a Jack Russell Terrier, after the 49-foot sailboat, the Blue Pearl, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. The USCG said its 5th District Command Center watchstanders were contacted at approximately 6:30 p.m.

The Coast Guard is responding to a disabled sailboat with four people aboard in the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday approximately 300 miles east of Cape Henry, Va. A representative from the manufacturer of the Be Good Too, a 42-foot sailboat, contacted the Coast Guard at approximately 1:30 p.m. Monday, reporting the Be Good Too was disabled and adrift during its transit from New York to the British Virgin Islands. "Last night we spoke with the Be Good Too crew and based on the forecasted weather, they decided they were willing to depart their vessel around 5 p.m. Monday," said Matthew Brooks, a Coast Guard 5th District Command Center command duty officer. District watchstanders determined that responding with a Coast Guard cutter was not feasible due to the distance offshore.

The Coast Guard is responding to a Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter that crashed with five people aboard Wednesday approximately 20 miles east of Cape Henry, Va. A Navy aircrew contacted Coast Guard 5th District Command Center watchstanders at approximately 11 a.m. reporting the Sea Dragon crashed and another Navy aircrew dropped a life raft to the people in the water. Sector watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and dispatched acrew aboard a 25-foot Response Boat - Small from Coast Guard Station Little Creek and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Shearwater…

The Coast Guard rescued an Air National Guard pilot Friday after his plane went down approximately 35 miles southeast of Chincoteague. Coast Guard 5th District Command Center watchstanders received notification via an automated Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking distress signal from an ejection seat registered to an Air National Guard plane at approximately 11:50 p.m. Thursday. The Navy's Fleet Area Control and Surveillance Facility at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach contacted Coast Guard watchstanders and confirmed two 113th Wing D.C. Air National Guard F-16C Falcon jets were involved in a mid-air collision. One pilot ejected while the second Falcon flew back to Joint Base Andrews, Md.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 5th District command center coordinated a rescue approximately 650 miles northeast of Bermuda with the assistance of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Denmark and a Finnish naval vessel. The Coastguard received a notification from RCC Denmark, stating that there were two people aboard the sailing vessel Petra in need of assistance as the keel of the boat had become loose and the vessel was flooding. The Coast Guard watchstanders, in Portsmouth, sent out an enhanced group call and asked the captain of the Finnish Navy Ship Pohjanmaa to assist. Watchstanders had also used AMVER, the Automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue system, to be in communications with other vessels’ crews in the area in case their assistance was needed.