Oak Island News

Four divers that went missing off the U.S. East Coast on Sunday were rescued Monday 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, N.C.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector North Carolina initially received a notification Sunday from Coast Guard Sector Charleston stating four men were diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. near noon, and had not resurfaced. Sectors Charleston and North Carolina coordinated a multi-asset…

The U.S. Coast Guard said it lit a first-of-its-kind LED-based rotating beacon at Oak Island Lighthouse on Caswell Beach, N.C., Monday.This upgrade is the Coast Guard’s first LED-based rotating beacon for an active aid to navigation and will provide a permanent, cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for the lighthouse. Necessary renovations of the lighthouse to prepare for the new beacon began in October."Lighthouses have navigational and historic significance here in North Carolina," said Lt. Brittany Akers, chief of waterways management at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina.

The United States' largest dredging services provider Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation on Monday reported the receipt of several dredging awards totaling $51.1 million.The awarded work includes:CPRA Cameron Meadows Marsh Creation Project (Coastal Protection, Louisiana, $28.6 million)Oak Island Beach Project (Coastal Protection, North Carolina, $15.4 million)New York and New Jersey Harbor, Port Jersey Channel Maintenance Dredging Federal Navigation Project (Maintenance, New Jersey…

The Coast Guard medevaced a man suffering severe abdominal pains from Bald Head Island, North Carolina, Monday.Coast Guard Station Oak Island watchstanders received a report of the 49-year old man's condition and the request for a medevac from medical personnel with the Bald Head Island Public Safety Department.Station Oak Island launched a 29-foot Response Boat-Small boat crew, who embarked the man and two medical personnel at Bald Head Island, and transported them to awaiting EMS personnel at Deep Point Marina in Southport.The two medical personnel were returned to Bald Head Island."It's imperative we continue to work hand-in-hand with our local partners on Bald Head Island," said Senior Chief Petty Officer Josh Meyer, officer-in-charge at Station Oak Island.

Coast Guard and partner agencies rescued five people Saturday from a capsized vessel about three miles off the coast of Carolina Beach. Sector North Carolina watchstanders in Wilmington received a mayday call at approximately 7:30 a.m. requesting help. -A C-130 Hercules aircraft crew and MH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City. -A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium (RBM) crew from Station Wrightsville Beach. -A 29-foot Response Boat-Small (RBS) crew from Station Oak Island. -16-foot skiff from Kure Beach Fire and Rescue. -A vehicle and jet ski from Carolina Beach Fire Department. The helicopter crew discovered a capsized 20-foot boat about three miles offshore at approximately 9:50 a.m.

A shipwreck discovered off the coast of North Carolina is likely one of three Confederate blockade runners known to have been lost in the area, archaeologists said on Monday. The remains of the iron-hulled steamer were located on Feb. 27 near Oak Island. It would be the first Civil War-era vessel found in the area in decades, said the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. Billy Ray Morris, director of the state's underwater archaeology branch, said he expected to be able to positively identify the 225-foot-long (68-metre) vessel when he leads a dive team to examine it on Wednesday. "To turn up a new wreck is a pretty big deal," he said in a telephone interview, adding sonar images showed the vessel to be largely intact.

Coast Guard Oak Island crew members and a Brunswick County paramedic came to the aid of an ailing man Wednesday aboard a charter fishing vessel approximately 15 miles southeast of the Cape Fear River entrance. Personnel at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received notification from the 25-foot charter vessel with five people on board Wednesday about noon stating a 35-year-old male passenger with heart problems was in and out of consciousness approximately 28 miles southeast of the Cape Fear River entrance. A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB) crew from Station Oak Island launched first and a 29-foot Response Boat-Small (RBS) from Station Oak Island later launched after taking aboard a Brunswick County paramedic.

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.

Coast Guard and partner agencies rescued five boaters Saturday after their boat capsized in Lockwoods Folley Inlet near Holden Beach, North Carolina. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders received notification from a good Samaritan reporting a disabled vessel at anchor within the inlet had capsized. Sector watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and dispatched a crew aboard a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Coast Guard Station Oak Island. The RB-S crew arrived on scene at approximately 8:30 a.m. and rescued four of the five boaters. The fifth boater was rescued by a local beach patrol boat and transferred to the RB-S. One boater was reported to have sustained a leg injury.

The U. S. Coast Guard rescued two people, early Sunday morning, aboard an aground sailing vessel in the vicinity of Oak Island, Wisconsin. The names of the boaters rescued are not being released by the Coast Guard, and there is no Coast Guard imagery from this case. At about 2 a.m., the Coast Guard responded to a distress call over VHF-FM channel 16, the designated international hailing and distress channel. The captain of the vessel reported that their anchor had dragged and they drifted aground and were stranded. A rescue boat crew aboard a 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Bayfield, Wisconsin,  got underway and asked the stranded boaters to launch flares to help lead the rescuers to them through the fog.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) rescued two people Thursday aboard a disabled boat approximately 50 miles southeast of Bald Head Island, North Carolina. Henry Fischer, aboard the 33-foot sport fishing boat Atlanta, contacted Coast Guard Sector North Carolina Command Center watchstanders at approximately 5:15 p.m. Wednesday requesting assistance after his boat lost steering. Sector watchstanders dispatched a crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Coast Guard Station Oak Island, North Carolina, to assist. The MLB crew arrived on scene at approximately 10 p.m. Wednesday and placed the Atlanta in tow. A second crew from Station Oak Island got underway aboard a 25-foot Response Boat - Small at approximately 4:25 a.m. Thursday to relieve the first crew from their tow.

The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring salvage attempts Wednesday of the Bald Head Island Ferry Adventure, which ran aground Tuesday in the vicinity of Battery Island near Southport, N.C. Personnel from Bald Head Island Transportation attempted to refloat the Adventure at approximately 10:30 a.m. Wednesday during high tide without success. The owner of Bald Head Island Transportation is working to submit a salvage plan of the Adventure for Coast Guard approval before any additional action is taken.

The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies are responding to a ferry grounding which reportedly caused multiple injuries after the Bald Head Island Ferry Adventure ran aground Tuesday in the vicinity of Battery Island near Southport, N.C. The crew of the Adventure, a 64-foot ferry, contacted Coast Guard Station Oak Island watchstanders via VHF-FM channel 16 at approximately 9 a.m., reporting they ran aground and passengers aboard were in need of medical assistance. Coast Guard…

1897- Assistance to lost persons near Oak Island, New York. At 8:30 p.m. the keeper received word  by telephone that a gentleman and two ladies, who had left the station at 4 p.m. In a small boat making for the mainland, they had not yet reached their home. As the weather was foggy and with the bay full of floating ice, it was feared they were lost. He at once set out to their assistance with one of his crew in a rowboat and carrying a shotgun. With frequent gunfire the bewildered party was located and assisted in reaching their destination. 1980-Coast Guard forces narrowly averted an environmental disaster when the 300-foot barge Michelle F, with more than 2.8 million gallons of No. Six industrial fuel aboard, grounded one-half mile offshore from the Brigantine Wildlife Refuge.

1904-Near Oak Island and Fire Island, New York the American schooner Frank W. McCullough ran aground on Fire Island Bar, 2 miles from the former station and 4 from the latter, at about 9 am. The Oak Island crew reached the vessel at 10:30 am and the Fire Island crew a half hour later. They found her pounding heavily and leaking badly. They manned the pumps and assisted the crew in throwing overboard the cargo of lumber; but on the flood tide the sea began to break over the wreck and the were obliged to give up for fear of being washed overboard. The Fire Island surfboat filled in the seaway and foundered. At midnight the sea moderated and all hands, 14 surfmen and 5 of schooner crew, abandoned the wreck in the Oak Island surfboat and at 2 a.m. reached the shore. The vessel was lost.

1897- Assistance to lost persons near Oak Island, New York. At 8:30 p.m. the keeper received word  by telephone that a gentleman and two ladies, who had left the station at 4 p.m. In a small boat making for the mainland, they had not yet reached their home. As the weather was foggy and with the bay full of floating ice, it was feared they were lost. He at once set out to their assistance with one of his crew in a rowboat and carrying a shotgun. With frequent gunfire the bewildered party was located and assisted in reaching their destination. 1980-Coast Guard forces narrowly averted an environmental disaster when the 300-foot barge Michelle F, with more than 2.8 million gallons of No. Six industrial fuel aboard, grounded one-half mile offshore from the Brigantine Wildlife Refuge.

1904-Near Oak Island and Fire Island, New York the American schooner Frank W. McCullough ran aground on Fire Island Bar, 2 miles from the former station and 4 from the latter, at about 9 am. The Oak Island crew reached the vessel at 10:30 am and the Fire Island crew a half hour later. They found her pounding heavily and leaking badly. They manned the pumps and assisted the crew in throwing overboard the cargo of lumber; but on the flood tide the sea began to break over the wreck and the were obliged to give up for fear of being washed overboard. The Fire Island surfboat filled in the seaway and foundered. At midnight the sea moderated and all hands, 14 surfmen and 5 of schooner crew, abandoned the wreck in the Oak Island surfboat and at 2 a.m. reached the shore. The vessel was lost.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled Thursday to celebrate the opening of the new Coast Guard Station Oak Island operations building. Crews from Coast Guard Station Oak Island, located in Caswell Beach, N.C., will be opening their doors to a new station after their original station burned down Feb. 1, 2002, for unknown reasons. In the mean time, crews have been conducting operations for more than two years in two doublewide trailers while a new, state-of-the-art facility was constructed on familiar station ground. Since the fire, Station Oak Island has grown larger with the addition of a new 25-foot homeland security response boat and 10 more crewmembers. Attending the ceremony will be Chief of Staff, U.S. Coast Guard, Vice Adm. Thad W.

High seas off Frying Pan Shoals on the night of January 24 led to the sinking of a tugboat and the death of three crew members. The 125-foot tugboat Valour set its barge adrift to turn around and recover a crew member who fell overboard. During the search, the tug started taking on water and sank around 2:30 a.m. on January 25 about 39 miles off the Cape Fear coast near the Frying Pan Shoals light tower. The U.S. Coast Guard and the crew of another tugboat, Justine Foss, helped rescue six crewmen. One died after being rescued. One of the missing two is believed to have gone down with the tug. The Coast Guard searched more than 1,700 nautical square miles over a period of 16 hours for the other missing crew member before suspending its search. The U.S.