USCG Newsfeed

CLEVELAND – The Coast Guard, a good Samaritan and Erie County, New York, Sheriff's Office rescued three people from Lake Erie Sunday afternoon after the vessel they were on crashed onto the breakwall in Buffalo Harbor near Buffalo, New York, resulting in one person being thrown into the water.

The names and hometowns of those rescued are not being released and there is no Coast Guard imagery or video available.

At 3:45 p.m., search-and-rescue controllers at Coast Guard Sector Buffalo received a report of a 18-foor boat grounded on the Buffalo Harbor breakwall with a woman in the water, a man on the boat and another woman on the breakwall.

The search-and-rescue controller directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Buffalo boat crew aboard a 25-foot response boat.

Also responding was a rescue crew from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

Before rescue crews arrived, a good Samaritan rescued the woman in the water.

As the rescue crew from the Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene, the man in the boat jumped into the water and swam to the Sheriff's Office rescue boat. The woman rescued by the good Sam was transferred to the sheriff’s boat.

The Coast Guard rescue crew was able to get close enough to the woman on the breakwall that she was able to climb from the rocks into the Coast Guard boat.

The Coast Guard and Sheriff’s Office rescue crews took the three people to the NFTA Small Boat Harbor where personnel from emergency medical services were waiting. The only injury reported was to the man who had suffered a cut on his forehead that was stitched up by EMS at the harbor.

Due to inclement weather, commercial salvage is unable to retrieve the boat today but is scheduled to retrieve it Monday.

"This case demonstrates the value of working with our partner agencies and should serve as a reminder to mariners about the importance of knowing the area in which you are boating,” said Fireman Jacob Windangle, a crew man aboard the Coast Guard Station Buffalo rescue boat.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Coast Guard and local agency personnel medically evacuated three injured persons from a grounded recreational boat east of the Antioch Bridge in Antioch, Calif., Sunday.

At approximately 11:12 a.m., Coast Guard Station Rio Vista watchstanders received a call from a person aboard a grounded 40-foot recreational boat, requesting assistance for one passenger who had sustained a back injury and two other passengers who sustained arm injuries during a grounding of their boat.

Station Rio Vista launched a 29-foot response boat and crew with one emergency medical technician from the Rio Vista Fire Department. The Contra Costa Fire Department also responded with a rescue boat and crew to assist.

Once on scene, the EMT and the Coast Guard crew safely transferred the person with the back injury to awaiting EMS personnel waiting in Antioch. The two other passengers with arm injuries were transported safely to shore by Contra Costa Fire Department.

"The teamwork displayed in this case highlights the close partnership the Coast Guard shares with other Bay Area first responders," said Lt. Jared Hood, a command duty officer at the U.S. Coast Guard Command Center in San Francisco. "Those partnerships are crucial in ensuring we provide the services necessary to mariners in need."

CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard conducted a medical evacuation Sunday afternoon of a 17-year-old girl from a boat on Lake Superior near Madeline Island.

The girl’s name is not being released and there is no Coast Guard imagery or video available.

Just before 1 p.m., a search-and-rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, received a request from Ashland, Wisconsin 911 dispatchers to transport the girl to emergency medical service personnel waiting on shore. The girl was slipping in and out of consciousness as a result of an injury she received during a fall on the boat in heavy seas.

A rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Bayfield, Wisconsin, launched aboard a 45-foot response boat.

Sector Sault Ste. Marie also consulted with the Coast Guard 9th District's duty flight surgeon who also recommended that the girl to be taken to a hospital.

The response boat crew transported the girl and her mother to EMS waiting at the Coast Guard station, who further transported her to Ashland Memorial Hospital. The girl was last known to be in stable condition.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A 51-year-old man is deceased and two others safe, a 14-year-old girl and 52-year-old man, after their boat sank Sunday morning in Copano Bay, just north of Rockport, Texas.

The Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center received a distress call from a 24-foot center console boat taking on water at approximately 9:30 a.m. The three people donned life jackets and abandoned the boat, which sank shortly after the distress call was made.

A Station Port Aransas rescue boatcrew and a Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew were dispatched to assist. The helicopter crew arrived on scene shortly after the boat sank and found two people clinging to a platform in the bay and another floating and unresponsive in the water nearby. They hoisted the unresponsive man and the 14-year old girl aboard the helicopter and began CPR on the man. The helicopter transported both to Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi. The man was pronounced dead shortly after arriving to the hospital. The rescue boatcrew picked up the other survivor who had no injuries.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is conducting the investigation into the cause of the accident.

“We launched our rescue helicopter and boat crews immediately after receiving the distress call,” said Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Allen, the search and rescue mission coordinator for the case. “We are fortunate to have recovered two of the victims without injury, but are sad that the one man was unresponsive upon arrival. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased man.”

CLEVELAND – The Coast Guard is responding Sunday to a 656-foot freighter that is 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.

Coordinators at the Sector Detroit Command Center are in constant communication with the vessel’s crew and with responders aboard the ship.

The vessel was en route to Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The cause of the grounding was determined to be a loss of steering caused by a motor coupling failure and repairs to the coupling have been completed.

One attempt to refloat the freighter by two tugs was unsuccessful after one of the tugs experienced motor issues. Two more tugs are scheduled to arrive on scene Sunday night and attempt another refloating.

Currently 580-feet of the grounded vessel is in the shipping channel but the channel is still open to traffic.

Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Services in the Sarnia Traffic Zone is notifying mariners of the waterway obstruction and is directing one-way traffic in the area.

PHILADELPHIA — The Coast Guard responded to two empty barges adrift Sunday in the Salem River, near the Rt. 49 bridge.

Local police contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay, in Philadelphia, at about 10 a.m. and reported the tugboat, Eric R. Thorton, which was pulling two empty barges, ran aground about one mile down-river from the Rt. 49 bridge.

After the tugboat ran aground, the two barges broke free from the tugboat and continued up the Salem River until the barges came to a stop against the Rt. 49 bridge.

A 25-foot Response Boat — Small crew from Coast Guard Station — Small Salem, a Coast Guard Auxiliary boat crew and several local emergency responders responded to the incident.

Once free, the tugboat crew was able to remove the barges and continue to their destination. There is no reported damage to the bridge.

One man who was aboard the tugboat was reported to have an arm injury and was transferred to emergency medical services personnel.

Coast Guard investigators are on scene.

SAN PEDRO, Calif. – The Coast Guard searched and located five people near Catalina Island, Calif., early Sunday morning after they were reported missing when they did not return from a daylong fishing trip, late Saturday night.

The boat owner's wife contacted the Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach Command Center at 10:51 p.m., Saturday night reporting the boat, the 34-foot Wahine, and its five passengers overdue. Her understanding was the boat and its five male passengers would be returning to Shoreline Harbor in Long Beach, Calif., by Saturday evening. When her attempts to reach her husband failed, she became concerned and called the Coast Guard.

Air Station Los Angeles launched a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and Sector San Diego launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, while Coast Guard Cutter Blackfin and Coast Guard Station Los Angeles-Long Beach conducted boat searches.

Coast Guard Command Center watch standers received a phone call at 8 a.m., Sunday morning from one of the passengers stating that they had been moored up in Avalon Harbor all night and planned to return in the afternoon. He was shocked to learn that the Coast Guard had been searching for them. They had not been checking their cell phones or monitoring VHF radio traffic.

“This case is a perfect illustration of how important it is to not only have a voyage plan prior to departure, but to effectively relay that plan to someone ashore. A simple miscommunication led to a large scale search and rescue effort involving numerous agencies, personnel, and assets,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Kelsey, a Command Center watch stander.