San Francisco Police Department News

Vesper Marine announce successful completion of the demonstration of its Virtual AIS Beacon Technology to a who’s who of California-based professional and port authority organizations. A proven technology currently being used in applications around the globe, the Vesper Virtual AIS Beacon delivers a proactive electronic marker of dangerous visible and invisible hazards such as bridges, piers, rock outcrops, and reefs, as well as any underwater fixed or moving hazards such as sandbars, to provide location information and alert warnings.

Moose Boats, a boat designer and manufacturer in the San Francisco Bay Area, delivered the 70th Moose Boat built, a M2-37 Catamaran Patrol Boat to San Francisco Police Department. The M2-37 all aluminum catamaran will be powered by twin Cummins QSB6.7L 425hp turbo diesel engines coupled to twin Hamilton HJ292 water-jets. The cabin is outfitted with shock mitigating seating for three personnel, a generous workstation, an array of Furuno navigation equipment, Motorola and Icom communications equipment and FLIR gyro-stabilized thermal imaging equipment with a dedicated Nauticomp display screen.

The crew aboard Crowley Maritime Corporation’s tugboat Guard recently performed a heroic rescue of a man who was struggling to stay afloat in the waters outside of San Francisco Bay. The rescue took place during the early morning hours of Wednesday, October 31, while the tugboat was standing by outside the Golden Gate Bridge, waiting to escort a tanker into San Francisco Bay’s anchorage. Crowley’s Perry Overton, captain of the Guard, noticed the man treading water a little more than a mile and a half from the bridge.

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco received notification from the Motor Vessel WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE through the Vessel Traffic Service that the vessel lost propulsion while transiting through San Francisco Bay just before 4:30 p.m. yesterday (February 14) afternoon. The vessel immediately took proper precautionary measures by safely anchoring within the shipping channel in less than five minutes. The Coast Guard, San Francisco Police Department Marine unit and two tug boats safely escorted the vessel, which was able to restart its main propulsion engine, to Anchorage Nine where the vessel is currently anchored. All appropriate notifications were made in a timely and proper manner.

The U.S. Coast Guard received a report of a container vessel Cosco Busan allision with the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The vessel was out bound with a pilot onboard at the time of the allision. The vessel reported damage to the forward left side and bulk fuel (MF 380) was leaking from the vessel. Visibility was limited during the time of the allision due to fog. U. S. Coast Guard and San Francisco Police Department are enforcing a 100 foot saftey zone around the vessel and the fuel in the water and CALTRANS is assessing the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The vessel is currently being moved to Anchorage 9. U. S. Coast Guard pollution investigators and marine inspectors from Sector San Francisco are conducting investigations into the amount of bulk fuel spilled and the cause of the allision.

The Coast Guard and other local law enforcement agencies are investigating the report of a suspicious boater seen near the entrance of the Oakland, Ca., estuary. The captain of a tugboat reported a near collision with a gray, ten-foot inflatable boat operating without navigational lights. The Coast Guard dispatched a small boat from Coast Guard Station San Francisco, a helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco, the Coast Guard Cutter Hawksbill and requested assistance from the California Highway Patrol, San Francisco Police Department and Oakland Fire Department to help conduct the search. Units are searching the bay and waterfront facilities for the boat and the operator. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Coast Guard Group San Francisco at 415-556-2103