North Carolina Coast News

Bollinger Shipyards announced it has delivered the USCGC Maurice Jester to the U.S. Coast Guard in Key West, Fla.. This is the 178th vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 52nd Fast Response Cutter (FRC) delivered under the current program.Measuring in at 154-feet, FRCs have a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art C4ISR suite (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), and stern launch and recovery ramp for a 26-foot…

With travel and tourism nearing pre-2020 levels, and transit systems benefiting from a return to work, passenger vessels have seen renewed activity. In its year-end review, John Groundwater, Executive Director of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), which advocates for the sector in Washington, D.C. wrote: “As we are nearing the end of the calendar year, we are delighted to report that our industry, and our members, are reporting far and wide that they have experienced very…

NOAA scientists and partner researchers are set to explore the shipwreck of the USS Monitor, natural reefs and the maritime cultural landscape off the North Carolina coast, and starting May 15, the public will be able to follow along.The two week mission — titled “Valor in the Atlantic” — will use state-of-the-art, remotely-piloted submersibles and other technologies to explore notable sites surrounding America’s first National Marine Sanctuary. The Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration is providing much of the technology for the mission…

The U.S. Coast Guard commissioned its 47th Sentinel-class cutter, USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1147), into service on ThursdayBuilt by Bollinger Shipyards and officially delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard on January 6 in Key West, Fla., Clarence Sutphin Jr. is Patrol Forces Southwest Asia's (PATFORSWA) sixth 154-foot Sentinel-class cutter.Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander, presided over the commissioning ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.

Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL), a Singapore-based company that owns subsidiaries engaged in international shipping, was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan in New Bern, N.C., after pleading guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice, and for a failure to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on the cargo vessel Pac Antares.PCL pleaded guilty to a total of eight felony offenses across three judicial districts – the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Southern District of Texas, and the Eastern District of Louisiana. PCL was sentenced to pay a fine of $12 million…

At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Dorian was located by reconnaissance aircraft and NOAA Doppler radar near latitude 27.1 North, longitude 78.4 West. Dorian is beginning to move northwestward at about 1 mph (2 km/h), and a slightly faster motion toward the northwest or north-northwest is expected later today and tonight.A turn toward the north is forecast by Wednesday evening, followed by a turn to the north-northeast Thursday morning. On this track, the core of extremely…

Coast Guard Capt. Jerry Barnes assumed command of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina in Wilmington, N.C., Tuesday. Barnes reported to Sector North Carolina after serving as the 5th Coast Guard District's chief of prevention. Barnes, a specialist in marine safety, security, environmental protection and marine transportation system management, previously served at the Marine Safety Center in Washington, D.C., Sector Hampton Roads, in Portsmouth, Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, Fla., various staff positions at the 5th Coast Guard District, and aboard a 210-foot medium endurance cutter home ported in St. Petersburg, Fla. Barnes, a native of Raleigh, N.C., is a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. He graduated from the U.S.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd faces at least two lawsuits by passengers accusing the company of negligently endangering their lives by letting its Anthem of the Seas cruise ship sail into a fierce Atlantic storm this month. The lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court in Miami claim that Royal Caribbean knew, or should have known, that a coastal storm carrying hurricane-force winds had been forecast before the ship set sail from Cape Liberty, New Jersey on Feb. 6 for a scheduled seven-night cruise to the Bahamas.

The Coast Guard assisted with the release of 130 sea turtles Thursday into Gulf Stream waters off the Outer Banks. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Cushing, along with their family members, assisted North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission personnel in releasing the sea turtles. The rehabilitated sea turtles were among many that experienced cold-water shock along the North Carolina coast in recent weeks. Cushing crew members assisted with the rescue of many of the cold-water shocked turtles last week. “We got word about a week ago that turtles were stranded and they were freezing," said Fireman Anthony C. Williams. "We partnered with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources commission to assist. Just as we protect people, we protect sea life.”

A man missing at sea for 66 days has been rescued in a disabled boat off the North Carolina coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday. A German-flagged vessel alerted the Coast Guard at about 1:30 p.m. that it had spotted the 37-year-old man and the vessel some 200 miles (320 km) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and took him aboard. The man, identified as Louis Jordan of South Carolina, was then airlifted from the ship and was being sent to a hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, the Guard said. He was initially reported missing by his family on Jan. 29, the Coast Guard said. (Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Paul Tait)

The wreck of a World War Two German U-boat and a freighter that sank 72 years ago have been discovered off the North Carolina coast by U.S. researchers, officials said. The submarine, the U-576, and the Nicaraguan-flagged freighter Bluefields were found about 30 miles (48 km) off Cape Hatteras in an area known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic for its number of wrecks, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Tuesday. The discovery underscores how close the battle for the Atlantic Ocean came to U.S. shores and is a rare view into the underwater battlefield landscape of World War Two, researchers said. "These two ships rest only a few hundred yards apart and together help us interpret and share their forgotten stories…

A team of researchers led by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries have discovered two significant vessels from World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic. The German U-boat 576 and the freighter Bluefields were found approximately 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Lost for more than 70 years, the discovery of the two vessels, in an area known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, is a rare window into a historic military battle and the underwater battlefield landscape of WWII.

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season gained strength on Thursday is expected to attain Category 2 status as it reaches the North Carolina coast, where thousands of vacationers scrubbed their July Fourth holiday plans amid evacuation orders. Hurricane Arthur was about 110 miles (175 km) south-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina, with current maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (145 km per hour), U.S. forecasters said. Moving faster at 10 mph (17 kph), the center…

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said it medevaced a 66-year-old man Wednesday from a cruise ship approximately 50 miles east of Wilmington, N.C. after receiving reports that the man was in medical distress. The USCG’s video can be seen here: Coast Guard Medevacs 66-Year-Old Man From Cruise Ship off North Carolina Coast. Personnel aboard the 950-foot cruise ship Carnival Splendor notified watchstanders at the Fifth District Command Center of the man’s condition at approximately 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The same NOAA weather and climate satellites that accurately tracked Hurricane Sandy’s path in October also played a key role in rescuing 263 people in 111 emergencies in the United States and surrounding waters in 2012. Since NOAA’s seven operational satellites circle the globe or sit above the United States, they also carry instruments to detect distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers. In addition to their role in weather prediction…

Famed for Finding Oil Deposits on the Seafloor after the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon Accident, the Invaluable Seagoing Laboratory is up for Sale. Meticulously tended to by a professional crew, and certified for another decade of exploration, the research vessel (R/V) Cape Hatteras has a lot of life left in her. That service may, however, take place in new seas now that the craft is being retired and sold by the Duke - University of North Carolina Oceanographic Consortium (DUNCOC). Constructed for The National Science Foundation in 1981 by Atlantic Marine Ship Builders, the 135-foot craft has been operated and meticulously maintained for 31 years by DUNCOC, and berthed at Duke University Marine Laboratory (DUML) on Pivers Island in Beaufort, North Carolina.

1942- Coast Guard plane located the lifeboats of SS Arubutan, which had been sunk by a Nazi submarine off the North Carolina coast, and directed USS Calypso, CG, to them.   1973- The first "Coast Guard-controlled drug seizure" took place when the cutter Dauntlessseized the sport fishing vessel Big L which was smuggling an "illicit cargo" of one ton of marijuana.     (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)

While the market news from the passenger vessel industry has been anything but bright, a few shipyards are building new facilities to better serve their customer base. One of the best examples is Island Boats, Jeanerette, La., Island Boats formerly was located on a very dry patch of land overlooking Highway 90 near New Iberia, La. . After construction, their vessels had to be trucked to the Port of Iberia, several miles away. "The cost to us and inconvenience to others in the Port was becoming a major problem as our boats got bigger," said Miles Thomas, president of the firm. The firm solved this problem in May by moving to a six acre plot of land that backs up to Bayou Teche, approximately eight miles from the Baldwin Canal that has direct access to the Intercoastal waterway.

From the Navy News Service:   1862 - A Union joint amphibious force captures Roanoke Island, N.C., opening the entire North Carolina coast to the Federals. 1890 - USS Omaha Sailors and Marines assist the city of Hodogary, Japan, in subduing a large fire. 1974 - Three Skylab III astronauts are recovered by USS New Orleans (LPH 11) in the Pacific Ocean about 150 miles west of San Diego. 1991 - Battleship USS New Jersey (BB 62) is decommissioned at Long Beach, Calif.   For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center Web site at www.history.navy.mil.

From the Navy News Service 1862 - A Union joint amphibious force captures Roanoke Island, N.C., opening the entire North Carolina coast to the Federals. 1890 - USS Omaha Sailors and Marines assist the city of Hodogary, Japan, in subduing a large fire. 1974 - Three Skylab III astronauts are recovered by USS New Orleans (LPH 11) in the Pacific Ocean about 150 miles west of San Diego. 1991 - Battleship USS New Jersey (BB 62) is decommissioned at Long Beach, Calif.

View of the USS Monitor wreck, which sank on Dec. 31, 1862, and now teams with marine life. NOAA and Immersion Presents launched oceanslive.org, a marine science portal that offers live video and special content to educate people of all ages about the ocean, including national marine sanctuaries. Immersion Presents is an after-school science education program founded by ocean explorer Robert Ballard. "NOAA is excited to offer this dynamic Internet-based resource, which will allow students, educators and the public to share in the thrill of discovery while learning more about the natural and cultural treasures of our national marine sanctuaries and the underwater world," said NOAA National Marine Sanctuary program director Daniel J. Basta.

Two North Carolina Coast Guard crews will be recognized at the annual Coast Guard Foundation Salute to the Coast Guard awards ceremony in New York. Lt. Cmdr. Donald E. Bader, Lt.j.g. Audie J. Andry, Petty Officer 1st Class Arthur J. Thompson, Jr., and Petty Officer 2nd Class James A. Geramita, of Air Station Elizabeth City, will be recognized at the ceremony. The commandant of the Coast Guard cited this helicopter crew's heroic actions in a search and rescue mission which resulted in saving three people on the sailing vessel Al Meisan, which was floundering with a broken mast and tangled rigging in 30-40 foot seas and turbulent winds greater than 50 knots. Lt. Charles K. Fluke, Jr., Chief Warrant Officer Morgan B. Dudley, and Chief Warrant Officer Keith M.

1942- Coast Guard plane located the lifeboats of SS Arubutan, which had been sunk by a Nazi submarine off the North Carolina coast, and directed USS Calypso, CG, to them. 1973- The first "Coast Guard-controlled drug seizure" took place when the cutter Dauntless seized the sport fishing vessel Big L which was smuggling an "illicit cargo" of one ton of marijuana.  (Source: USCG Historian’s Office)