Sector Detroit News

A U.S. registered laker ran aground in the St. Clair River near Marine City, Mich. on Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard said it was notified at 7:21 a.m. that the 617-foot-long vessel American Courage grounded with a cargo of 20,000 tons of stone on board. No injuries or pollution have been reported.The river remains open to navigation, though a marine safety broadcast has been issued urging mariners to use caution while transiting the area.The Coast Guard said it is coordinating with the vessel's owner—Traverse City…

The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday commenced Operation Coal Shovel, a domestic icebreaking operation to maintain commercial vessel traffic from southern Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair, to the St. Clair / Detroit River system, and into Lake Erie and Lake Ontario including the St. Lawrence Seaway.U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers work together in these waterways as conditions worsen throughout the winter to ensure the ability to conduct search-and-rescue, exigent community service, and the facilitation of navigation to meet the reasonable demands of commerce.Both the U.S.

Subchapter M, the United States regulatory code dealing with towing vessels and requirements for towing vessel safety, has officially been in place since July 20, 2016, when the U.S. Coast Guard finalized Sub M rulemaking.Since the rules were finalized there have been a couple of important hammer dates. In spring and summer 2018 the first certificates of inspection (COI) were issued. COIs are central within the Sub M program. A vessel needs a COI to legally operate. (All vessels were required to comply with Sub M by July 20, 2018.

The U.S. Coast Guard responded to reports of a collision between a 17-foot recreational boat and a 406-foot cargo vessel in Lake St. Clair approximately two miles offshore east of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, Sunday morning. The master of the involved cargo vessel, the Esta Desgagnes, a Canadian-flagged vessel home-ported in Quebec, Canada, immediately hailed the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 to report the collision and that the operator of the recreational vessel was in the water. A rescue crew from Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores launched a response boat and found the operator of the recreational boat clinging to a buoy. He was uninjured, but his boat was damaged and sank just outside the channel. U.S.

The U.S. Coast Guard officially commenced Operation Coal Shovel, Tuesday, encompassing domestic ice-breaking operations in southern Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair / Detroit River system, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway. U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers work together to break ice in these waterways as conditions worsen throughout the winter. The Coast Guard conducts domestic ice-breaking operations for the purposes of search-and-rescue, and…

The U. S. Coast Guard said it will turn off the light inside the Tawas Point Lighthouse navigational aid in East Tawas, Michigan, in September and activate a new lighted aid to navigation about 3,000 feet away at Tawas Point where the fog signal is located, providing better visibility to mariners. In addition to the new location, the light characteristic will change from an occulting white light that appears red from some areas, called red sectors, to an all-around white light that flashes every four seconds. The GPS position of the new light is 44-14.9040N, 083-27.5477W.

U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreaking crews kick off operation Coal Shovel Friday in the waters of the southern Great Lakes. Operation Coal Shovel encompasses domestic icebreaking operations in southern Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair / Detroit River system, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway. U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, work together to break ice in these waterways as conditions worsen throughout the winter. The Coast Guard conducts domestic icebreaking operations for the purposes of search-and-rescue…

Detroit Coast Guard members are participating in a Southeast Michigan Area Maritime Security Committee multi-agency table-top exercise Wednesday at the Detroit Fire Department Regional Training Center. The purpose of this exercise is to test plans and policies of federal, provincial, state and local area agencies in response to a transportation security incident. In accordance with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, a table-top exercise is a discussion based exercise. There will not be any resources deployed directly as a result of this exercise. More than 150 participants from 50 agencies are expected to participate in the exercise.

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the cause of an accident in the Saginaw River, Friday afternoon. At 10:30 a.m., a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received a report of a man clinging to a buoy in the Saginaw River near Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City, Mich. Rescue crews launched from Coast Guard Station Saginaw River, in Essexville, Mich., in a 24-foot response boat and from Air Station Detroit in a Dolphin rescue helicopter. Before the Coast Guard arrived on scene the man was rescued by crews from the Zilwaukee, Mich., Fire Department. The rescued man stated that he and another man were on a boat when they had to jump into the river as a tug and barge hit their boat.

Rescues in Saginaw Bay, Michigan, Sunday evening and Lake Erie Monday morning are the latest in an alarmingly high number of Great Lakes ice rescues since Saturday, prompting a Coast Guard reminder of the risk of venturing out onto the ice and of the importance of taking appropriate safety precautions. The names and hometowns of the rescued and assisted are not being released. At about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, a 911 operator contacted search-and-rescue controllers at the Coast Guard Sector Detroit Command Center to report a disoriented man on Saginaw Bay in blizzard conditions. The man called 911 from his cell phone, allowing the dispatchers to determine his coordinates before losing communication with him.

The Federal Rideau, a 656-foot freighter that had been hard aground in the downbound shipping channel of Lake St. Clair since early Sunday morning, was refloated early Tuesday morning and is now safely anchored in the Detroit River at the Belle Island Anchorage. Divers are scheduled to conduct a damage assessment survey of the vessel, and repairs will be made if necessary. There is no resultant pollution and no injuries were reported. At around 3 a.m. Sunday, response coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received notice that the motor vessel Federal Rideau…

The U.S. Coast Guard said it continues to monitor the response and salvage operations to the 656-foot HK-flagged bulk carrier Federal Rideau, hard aground in the downbound shipping channel of Lake St. Clair since early Sunday morning. Several attempts to refloat the vessel have been unsuccessful since then and five tugs have been dispatched for another attempt. Initial reports indicate there is no resultant pollution and no injuries were reported. At around 3 a.m. Sunday, response coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received notice that the motor vessel Federal Rideau, grounded in the downbownd channel in Lake St. Clair near the Detroit River. The vessel is carrying approximately 22,672 tons of wheat.

The Coast Guard has responded Sunday to a 656-foot freighter that was hard aground in the downbound shipping channel of Lake St. Clair. Initial reports indicate there is no resultant pollution and no injuries were reported. At around 3 a.m., response coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received notice that the motor vessel Federal Rideau, a Hong Kong-flagged vessel, grounded on the downbownd channel in Lake St. Clair near the Detroit River. The vessel is carrying approximately 22,672 tons of wheat. Coast Guard marine inspectors from Coast Guard Sector Detroit Prevention Department responded to the grounding to assess the situation and determine the extent of any structural damage to the vessel.

The Coast Guard informs it is responding to a 36,563 dwt 656-foot freighter that is hard aground in the downbound shipping channel of Lake St. Clair. Coast Guard Sector Detroit said that the motor vessel Federal Rideau, a Hong Kong-flagged vessel carrying 22,672 tons of wheat, had  grounded on the downbownd channel in Lake St. Clair near the Detroit River. The vessel was  en route to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Marine inspectors from Coast Guard Sector Detroit Prevention Department responded to the grounding to assess the situation and determine the extent of any structural damage to the vessel. Initial reports indicate there is no resultant pollution and no injuries were reported.

The Coast Guard rescued a 30-year-old woman from the Detroit River late Sunday evening after she was reported to have fallen overboard when the vessel she was on was struck by another boat's wake. The woman's name is not being released and there is no Coast Guard imagery or video available. Just after 11:15 p.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Detroit received a report of an unconscious woman in the Detroit River, north of the MacArthur Bridge, who had fallen overboard when her vessel hit a small wake. Two good Samaritan vessels were on scene, but were unable to bring the woman aboard. Sector Detroit watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Belle Isle,  Michigan, boat crew, aboard a 25-foot response boat.

Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary  crews across the Great Lakes rescued 9 people during multiple cases from different locations across the Coast Guard 9th District Saturday. The names of those rescued are not being released and there is no imagery or video for any of the cases. Among other cases, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, New York, received a report just after 10:30 a.m. of two people in the water near Lock 5 in the Oswego River in Oswego, New York, during a kayaking event. A Coast Guard Auxiliary crew was in the area doing a safety patrol for the event. The crew and a local fire department boat retrieved both of the people from the water and took them to shore. It is unknown if they were wearing life jackets and there were no injuries or medical concerns reported.

A U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Mounted Police law enforcement boat crew conducted the first Shiprider patrol of the 2014 Great Lakes boating season, Thursday, in Lake Erie. The Shiprider Program allows U.S. and Canadian maritime law enforcement officers to embark together on joint patrols to integrate operations on and near shared maritime borders. Law enforcement officers from Coast Guard Station Belle Isle, Michigan and a RCMP officer from Windsor, Ontario, embarked on a Coast Guard 45-foot response boat for the patrol in Lake Erie.

The U.S. Coast Guard concluded icebreaking operations on the lower Great Lakes, Monday, more than four months after it started, Dec. 15, 2013. Operation Coal Shovel is a binational domestic icebreaking effort covering the St. Lawrence Seaway, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, the Detroit/St. Clair River System and southern Lake Huron. Crews aboard Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw, Hollyhock, Bristol Bay, Neah Bay and Morro Bay were joined by crews from Canadian Coast Guard Ships Samuel Risley, Griffon and Des Groseilliers during this year’s operation.

A U.S. Coast Guard rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Detroit hoisted an injured man off of Lake St. Clair in Ontario, Canada, after the all-terrain vehicle on which he and three friends were riding overturned. The group was on an ice fishing trip when the accident occurred about 2 miles from shore. Controllers at the Coast Guard’s 9th District Command Center received a request for assistance from Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton, Ontario , which was relaying the report from the Ontario Provincial Police.

The Coast Guard reported a diesel fuel discharge Tuesday afternoon from the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw while the ship was taking on fuel in the Detroit River in the vicinity of the Ambassador Bridge. The crew immediately secured the source of fuel and conducted initial clean-up operations onboard. Crewmembers also deployed boom around the fuel to prevent further spread. Coast Guard Sector Detroit pollution responders currently on scene estimate that 200-300 gallons entered the water.

The U.S. Coast Guard has contained all spilled diesel fuel from the Tuesday discharge that occurred while Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw was taking on fuel in the vicinity of the Ambassador Bridge in the Detroit River. The deployed sorbent boom recovered all but a residual amount of diesel before the boom became frozen in the ice. Coast Guard Sector Detroit and Marine Pollution Control contracted personnel are continuing to monitor the situation and plan to recover the boom, along with the residual fuel that remains in the ice, as soon as weather permits and it is safe to do so.

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) formally recognized the crew of an education vessel at a ceremony Wednesday at Coast Guard Air Station Detroit, located at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., for saving two people when they responded to a mayday call in the Detroit River on Aug. 11, 2013. During the ceremony, Capt. Jeff Ogden, commander of Coast Guard Sector Detroit, presented Norman Raymond, Stephen Stewart and Elizabeth Nebei with the Captain David P. Dobbins Award for excellence in search and rescue.

U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard crews continue to search for three people in the water in Lake Erie, Thursday, after one body was recovered and a boat was found five miles northeast of Locust Point, Ohio. The Coast Guard is not releasing the names of the missing people or the recovered individual at the request of the families. Coast Guard crews investigated a report of a second body in the water but found it was a floating log. The search commenced at 2 a.m. after a watchstander at Sector Detroit received a report that a fishing group was overdue on returning home. The boat was discovered on Toussaint Reef, approximately five miles northeast of Locust Point. The group's truck and boat trailer were found at the Locust Point boat ramp.