French Frigate Shoals: A Canary in the Coal Mine
French Frigate Shoals are located in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, between Kauai and Midway. The atoll consists of a twenty-mile long crescent-shaped reef, with 13 coral and sand islands and the 120-foot high volcanic rock Perouse Pinnacle, named for French explorer Jean-Francois de la Perouse, who charted the atoll in 1786 and nearly grounded his two frigates. Tern Island is the largest, covering 105,276 square meters or 26 acres. Second largest is (or was) East Island, with 35…
Fines for Cruise Ship Grounding Total $100,000
A French cruise company and ship’s Master have been fined $70,000 and $30,000 respectively for endangering human life and entering a prohibited zone following a grounding incident in the remote New Zealand Subantarctic islands.French company Compagnie du Ponant and Captain Regis Daumesnil, a French citizen, were sentenced Tuesday in the Wellington District Court after pleading guilty to charges following the January 2017 grounding of the cruise ship L’Austral on an uncharted rock at the Snares Islands.Both Maritime NZ and the Department of Conservation (DOC) brought charges against Captain Daumesnil, with DOC also prosecuting the company.
Latest on 'Rena' Salvage
Salvors report steel cutting on board the 'Rena' continued with very good progress made during the current stable weather window. • An additional 70 tonnes has been removed from the forward section using the Bell 214 helicopter. • This brings the total steel weight removed to approximately 200 tonnes. • The focus for the coming week – weather permitting – will be the continued cutting of the forecastle deck and deck equipment, as well as replenishing cutting materials and equipment by helicopter. • On behalf of the owners and insurers, Braemar recovery teams have been in full swing, with land, sea and air operations underway this week.
Coast Guard Airlifts Stricken Diver
A Coast Guard rescue crew medevaced an injured diver after receiving a call at 9:09 a.m. from a crewmember on board the vessel Clearlight, near Wrangell. The Lady Becky, a nearby vessel, rendered Good Samaritan aid, and a Coast Guard helicopter launched from Sitka. The Coast Guard rescue crew took 33-year old Ketchikan resident Michael R. Anderson to Ketchikan, where an EMS crew awaited. Ketchikan hospital officials pronounced him deceased. Rescuers performed CPR on Anderson aboard the Clearlight and the helicopter en route Ketchikan. Anderson reportedly lacked oxygen for about 5-10 minutes on board the vessel. The Clearlight, a fishing vessel from Southeast Alaska, traveled near East Island, about 30 miles southwest of Wrangell, when the incident occurred.
