Fishing Vessel Runs Aground off Honolulu
Twenty fishermen were transported to shore from an aground vessel less than a half mile off Honolulu early Wednesday morning. Honolulu Fire Department Jet Ski crews transported fishermen from the vessel to a Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium for further transport to awaiting emergency responders at Ala Wai Harbor. A Coast Guard MH-65 helicopter crew hoisted two of the fishermen and the master of the vessel and transported them to Honolulu airport. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu received three reports of the 79-foot commercial fishing vessel Pacific Paradise grounded off Diamond Head near the Outrigger Canoe Club Channel Tuesday night. They responded by directing the launch of response assets.
USCG Medevacs Cruise Ship Passenger Near Oahu
The Coast Guard medevaced a 76-year-old man being treated for internal bleeding from a cruise ship 80 miles north of Oahu, Tuesday. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point safely hoisted the man from the cruise ship Carnival Miracle at 9 p.m. and transferred him to awaiting EMS at the Honolulu Airport. The patient was admitted to Queens Medical Center at 10:14 p.m. Personnel aboard the cruise ship contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu at 4:21 p.m. Sunday regarding medical assistance for an ailing passenger. The ship had originally departed Vancouver, British Columbia, en route Nawiliwili, Kauai. The ship’s doctor was treating the man for internal bleeding.
Damage Assessment, USS Port Royal
The Navy has completed a majority of its damage assessment of USS Port Royal (CG 73), which ran aground a half-mile off Honolulu Airport's Reef Runway Feb. The propeller blades, sonar dome and underwater hull were among items damaged on the 567 ft guided-missile cruiser. Critical systems -- such as the vertical launch cell hatches and other weapons systems, the AEGIS radar system, ballistic missile defense capability, surface-search radar, anchors, antennae and gas-turbine engines -- were not damaged.
Port Royal Grounding, Follow-Up
Divers from the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and the U.S. Navy have been working cooperatively over the course of this week to assess the extent of the grounding scar from USS Port Royal (CG 73) and to undertake emergency restoration activities on the impacted reef. Meanwhile, the guided-missile cruiser entered drydock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Feb. 18 to repair damage sustained when it ran aground the night of Feb. 5 a half-mile off Honolulu Airport's Reef Runway. After three unsuccessful attempts, the Pearl Harbor ship was refloated early Feb.
