Air Station Traverse City News

A portion of the St. Marys River has been closed to vessel traffic after a U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighter struck a channel light in the waterway.At approximately 1 a.m., the 730-foot bulk carrier American Mariner suffered a marine casualty and struck the Munuscong Junction Light with its bow, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The incident occurred in Munuscong Lake, which is a section of the St. Marys River in Michigan state.The American Steamship Company-owned vessel is currently operated by Grand River Navigation under a bareboat charter.

A salvage plan is being developed to refloat a barge that went aground in the lower St. Marys River, near Sweets Point, Mich.At 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie Command Center received notification that the 302-foot barge PML2501 towed by the 132-foot towing vessel Anglian Lady grounded in the lower St. Marys River. Both assets are Canadian and had been en route from Sault Sainte Marie, Ont. to Burns Harbor, Ind. at the time of the incident.

It's that time of year.The US Coast Guard announced it has commenced icebreaking operations in response to expanded ice growth in the commercial ports of western Lake Superior.Operation Taconite, launched by Coast Guard Sector Sault Sainte Marie on Wednesday, is one of two icebreaking operations that support the Great Lakes. It encompasses Lake Superior, St. Marys River, Straits of Mackinac, Georgian Bay, Green Bay, northern Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan.The authority for Coast Guard domestic icebreaking was created in 1936, by Executive Order 7521 signed by President Franklin D.

CLEVELAND — The U.S. Coast Guard and local agencies rescued 46 ice fishermen from an ice floe that broke free near Catawaba Island, Saturday.An additional estimated 100 people were able to self-rescue themselves from the ice floe either by swimming or walking on ice-bridges that were still connected to the floe initially.At 8:13 a.m., Coast Guard Station Marblehead received notification from an Ohio Department of Natural Resources representative that there were approximately 100 people stranded on an ice floe and that there were an additional 30 to 40 people in the water.

A new agreement sets forth terms for maritime industry rescue training between U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Detroit and Lake Carriers' Association (LCA) enrolled vessels. The memorandum of agreement was signed Tuesday at the 9th Coast Guard District headquarters in Cleveland by Rear Adm. Joanna M. Nunan, commander, 9th Coast Guard District, and James H.I. Weakley, president of the LCA. "The experience gained by both Coast Guard and Lake Carriers' crews will greatly enhance both organizations capabilities," Nunan said.

The crew of Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City is hosting an international joint search-and-rescue exercise with members of the Royal Canadian Air Force beginning Tuesday in and around the Traverse City area. The Royal Canadian Air Force's 424th Transport and Rescue Squadron based at CFB Trenton, Ontario, will be flying a CC-130 Hercules aircraft and a CH-146 Griffon helicopter during the search-and-rescue exercises taking place from October 13 to October 15th. U.S. Coast Guard units participating include MH-65D Dolphin helicopters from Air Station Traverse City and vessels from Coast Guard Stations Charlevoix, Michigan, and Manistee, Michigan. Training operations will start Tuesday when Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard rescue crews will begin classroom and ground-rescue briefings.

A man believed to be suffering symptoms from a heart attack was medevaced from a tugboat Thursday morning. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Traverse City, Mich., hoisted the man suffering chest pains from tug Joyce L. Vanenkevort. The tug was forced to alter its course to facilitate the evacuation due to heavy storms in the area and rendezvoused with the Coast Guard helicopter crew once conditions allowed. Weather conditions also diverted the helicopter crew from its original destination of Sturgeon Bay Airport, but the crew arrived safely at Ephraim-Fish Creek Airport in Ephraim, Wisc., where emergency medical crews were waiting.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the Alpena Sheriff's Department and several good Samaritans are assisting two men aboard a 42-foot sailboat that began taking on water early Wednesday morning 18 miles east of Alpena, Michigan in Lake Huron. Shortly after 9 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, received a call from two men aboard a 42-foot sailboat stating their vessel was taking on water approximately 18 nautical miles east of Alpena in Lake Huron. The men stated they were currently using a hand pump to dewater the vessel.

The search for a man who reportedly jumped overboard from a freighter near Big Sable Point in Lake Michigan early Sunday morning has been suspended, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan received a report just before 2 a.m. Sunday, from the motor vessel Stewart J. Cort, a 989-foot, U.S.-flagged freighter owned by the Interlake Steamship Company, that they had a man overboard approximately 3-4 miles offshore of Big Sable Point. Crew members reportedly witnessed the man climb over the rail and jump from the vessel.

A Chicago woman was sentenced in federal court Thursday for making a false distress call nearly two years ago which led to several agencies launching a dangerous search and rescue operation in Lake Michigan off of Rogers Park Beach. Leona Chewning, 24, was sentenced to 180 days of community confinement, three years of probation and $13,613 in restitution for knowingly and willfully causing the Coast Guard to attempt to save lives and property when no help was needed, in violation of Title 14, U.S. Code, section 88(c). Chewning pled guilty at her arraignment before U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle in federal court in Chicago in January. Shortly after 9 p.m. Feb.

The grounded 603-foot Canadian bulk carrier Mississagi was refloated on the St. Marys River following operations to offload approximately 2,000 tons of stone, Saturday. The motor vessel, carrying more than 17,000 tons of stone, was transiting downbound the St. Marys River from Bruce Mines, Ontario early Wednesday when it ran aground in the Potagannissing Bay, approximately four miles northeast of De Tour Village. Lightering operations began at 8 a.m. under the supervision of Coast Guard marine inspectors and pollution responders. The vessel was refloated by 1 p.m. then anchored in a new location near Big Trout Island with no injuries or pollution. Once on scene, The Great Lakes Towing Company’s Tug Missouri responded and freed the vessel within five hours, the company said.

The Coast Guard continues to monitor the 603-foot bulk carrier Mississagi which ran aground in the St. Marys River near De Tour Village, Michigan early Wednesday. The motor vessel, a Canadian-flagged bulk carrier with a load of stone, was transiting downbound the St. Marys River from Bruce Mines, Ontario, when it ran aground in the Potagannissing Bay, approximately 4 miles northeast of De Tour Village. The bow of the vessel is aground. There are no reported injuries to the crew and no reported pollution. Coast Guard marine inspectors completed a post-damage survey Wednesday afternoon and determined that port and starboard ballast tanks had no significant damage or ingress of water. In addition, fuel tanks located near the stern of the vessel did not sustain any damage.

A 603-foot bulk carrier ran aground in the St. Marys River near De Tour Village, Michigan, early Wednesday. The motor vessel Mississagi, a Canadian-flagged bulk carrier with a load of stone, was transiting downbound the St. Marys River from Bruce Mines, Ontario, when it ran aground in the Potagannissing Bay approximately 4 miles northeast of De Tour Village, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. There are no reported injuries to the crew and no reported pollution. At about 1 a.m., the master of the motor vessel Mississagi notified a watchstander at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste Marie…

A Coast Guard aircrew medically evacuated an 80-year-old man off Beaver Island in Lake Michigan Sunday night. The man’s name is not being released. At 5:40 p.m., emergency medical personnel on Beaver Island contacted a search and rescue coordinator at the Coast Guard Ninth District command center to request assistance with transporting an 80-year-old man, who was suffering from signs of a stroke, to a hospital in Michigan. A rescue aircrew in an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter launched from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Michigan, to assist. The Coast Guard aircrew met EMTs and the man at the Beaver Island Airport, where he was brought aboard the helicopter for transport to the air station. Once there, local EMTs further transported him to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.

A U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) aircrew conducted a medical evacuation of a man from a freighter in Lake Huron after he lost consciousness Wednesday morning, the USCG reported. Just after 10 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, received a report from the motor vessel American Century, that one of their crew members was unconscious and had a previous history of heart problems. The duty flight surgeon recommended an immediate MEDEVAC and an aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Michigan, was launched aboard a Dolphin helicopter. The aircrew arrived on-scene, hoisted the man off the freighter and took him to Coast Guard Station St. Ignace, Michigan, where they were met by awaiting emergency medical services.

The search for a missing man in Lake Michigan ended Tuesday afternoon as search crews from the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police located the body of the man on the shore of Lake Michigan in northern Muskegon County, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said in a press announcement this afternoon. The search commenced Monday night after a watchstander at Coast Guard Station Ludington, Michigan, received a phone call from the man’s friend reporting that the man had not reached his destination. The missing man left Whitehall Marina in Whitehall, Michigan, at 1 p.m. and told his friend that he was going to sail 39 miles north in Lake Michigan to Snug Harbor in Pentwater Lake. When the man had not reached Snug Harbor by 7 p.m., his friend called Coast Guard Station Ludington.

U.S. Coast Guard crews are searching for a man who went missing from his boat in Lake Michigan, Monday night. The search commenced at 7 p.m. after a watchstander at Coast Guard Station Ludington, Michigan, received a phone call from the man’s friend reporting that the man had not reached his destination. The missing man left Whitehall Marina in Whitehall, Michigan, at 1 p.m. and told his friend that he was going to sail 39 miles north in Lake Michigan to Snug Harbor in Pentwater Lake. When the man had not reached Snug Harbor by 7 p.m., his friend called Coast Guard Station Ludington. A rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Ludington launched aboard a 25-foot response boat, and a rescue air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Michigan, launched aboard a Dolphin helicopter.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency are responding to the report of an oil discharge into Lake Michigan from the BP Whiting Refinery in Whiting, Ind. The Coast Guard received a report Monday night from watchstanders the National Response Center of a sheen from an unknown substance discharging from an outflow adjacent to the refinery. Personnel from Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago and the EPA responded last night and found an area of about 5,000 square feet covered in crude oil.

A Coast Guard Dolphin helicopter that was on Washington Island after the crew made an emergency landing on Sunday was recovered Monday and is being transported back to Air Station Traverse City, Mich., to undergo necessary repairs. A six-member recovery team from the air station arrived on Washington Island on Monday morning to begin the process of recovering the helicopter. At about 5 p.m. CST, the crew loaded the trailered aircraft onto the Washington Island Ferry, Arni Richter, for a 30-minute transit back to Northport Pier in Door County, Wis.

The Coast Guard Foundation extended congratulations to Traverse City, Michigan and the members of Air Station Traverse City on their recent designation as a “Coast Guard City.” Awarded by the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard and approved by Congress, the honor is given to select communities that have made special efforts to acknowledge the professional work of the Coast Guard men and women assigned to their area. This year’s Traverse City Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner, which took place on Friday, January 28th at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, celebrated the Coast Guard, showcased operations from the past year and outlined the strategy for future activities in the region. Coast Guard Foundation President, Anne B.

The U.S. Coast Guard released its top 11 video compilation for 2009. The public is encouraged to vote online at the Coast Guard's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/USCGImagery, for their favorite video in the Coast Guard’s best video of 2009 contest. The Coast Guard Compass, http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/, will be highlighting one video per day starting Dec. 21 through Jan. •    The rescue of a paraglider pilot who crashed on the shoreline of Cape Lookout near Tillamook, Ore., by an aircrew from Air Station Astoria, Ore. •    The capture of suspected pirates from a response to a vessel distress signal from Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Team 409 while operating under Combined Task Force 151. •    A medical evacuation of a crewmember from a U.S.

The Coast Guard is responding to the Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minn., to assist local fire and police departments, emergency medical services and the state emergency operations center with search and rescue operations. A 25-ft. smallboat crew from the Marine Safety Detachment from St. Paul, Minn., is on scene. An HH-65C Rescue Helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., along with and the Coast Guard Auxiliary in St. Paul, Minn., have been deployed to the scene to conduct search and rescue operations.