BOSTON — A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew transported a man experiencing heart attack-like symptoms from a fishing boat 60 miles southeast of Nantucket, Mass., to a Cape Cod, Mass., hospital, Wednesday night.

The crew of the fishing vessel Monomoy contacted Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England at 11 p.m., reporting that a 46-year old crewman was experiencing severe chest pains, with tingling hands, clammy skin and heavy breathing and was in need of immediate medical attention.

The 1^st Coast Guard District Command Center conducted a conference call with the flight surgeon who recommended a medical evacuation.

An MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod launched with a corpsman aboard. When performing a medevac, the helicopter crew always has a corpsman to administer first aid. Corpsmen aboard helicopters are required to have some of the same vigorous training as the rest of the helicopter crew such as emergency egress, dunk tank and low pressure chamber training. Coast Guardsmen's experience, skills and training allow for quick action and an appropriate and efficient response to all maritime needs.

Due to the boat’s rigging and sea conditions, a rescue swimmer could not be lowered safely from the helicopter so the crew lowered a rescue basket to the deck of the boat where the man could climb in to be hoisted up to the helicopter.

"The conditions were definitely challenging but the entire crew did an outstanding job and we were able to hoist the crewmember aboard where our corpsman administered life-saving medications while en route to the hospital," said helicopter co-pilot Lt. j.g. Zephyr Mays.

The weather on scene was 11-knot winds with 6-foot seas.

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BOSTON — The 100-person crew of the Boston-based Coast Guard Cutter Seneca returned home, Thursday, after a 65-day Living Marine Resources Law Enforcement patrol off the central and northeastern United States' coast.

During the patrol the Seneca crew conducted two search and rescue cases, towed two vessels safely to port, participated in the investigation of a boat capsizing where there was a loss of life and conducted more than 50 law enforcement boardings to ensure vessels were compliance with commercial fishing vessel safety and fishery regulations.

On Dec. 8, 2011, the Seneca crew towed the Paul Michelle along with its seven crewmen through 20-25 knot winds and 5-8 foot seas after the scalloper lost power approximately 26 miles south of Montauk, N.Y. Click HERE for the original release and photographs for this case.

On Jan.12, 2012, the Seneca crew aided another disabled vessel when the shaft of the 71-foot Olympic Javelin broke, leaving it’s four man crew became stranded in 8-10 foot seas 40 miles east of Chincoteague Inlet, Va. After a nearly 60-mile transit with the fishing vessel in tow, the Seneca crew transferred the Olympic Javelin to a commercial salvage company in the vicinity of Cape May, NJ. Click HERE for the original release and photograph for this case.

"We are very happy to return to Boston and reunite with our families and friends after a long but productive patrol,” said Cmdr. Charles Fosse, the commanding officer of the 270-foot Seneca. “The winter weather off New England and the Mid-Atlantic states offered challenges daily, but Seneca’s crew persevered in their normal fashion and did an outstanding job. We are proud of our involvement in search and rescue cases, including towing two disabled fishing vessels to safety in offshore storms, as well as our many positive interactions with fishing vessel crews during boardings from Cape Hatteras to Coastal Maine."

To see more photos from the Seneca's recent patrol, check out their Facebook page U.S. Coast Guard CGC Seneca.

BOSTON — A 26-foot pleasure boat, registered in the U.S., was located 20 miles off the northern coast of Spain, Jan. 17, 2012, three and a half years after stormy sea conditions ejected its crew off the coast of Nantucket, Mass.

The U.S. Coast Guard received the report of the located flotsam from Maritime Rescue Coordination Center Madrid Jan. 24, 2012, and was able to link the vessel to a search and rescue case that occurred Aug. 25, 2008, near Nantucket, Mass.

During that case, the Coast Guard responded to reports of two men who had been ejected from the center console vessel Queen Bee while attempting to cross a bar in 6 to 8-foot sea conditions. Both men were able to swim to Esther Island, Mass., and were provided first aid upon recovery.

Aboard the vessel were:

Scott Douglas
Rich St. Pierre 

The men located a rescue bag with a PFD and swam for two hours in an effort to reach the nearest shoreline. "Three things popped out after we got hit," said Douglas, the vessel owner and operator. "Rich, me, and that bag."

"There were times when both of us didn't think we were going to make it," said Douglas. "Everything had to go our way. It was a miracle."

Due to the dangerous sea state, the vessel was left to drift once the men were rescued.

The Queen Bee likely drifted into the Gulf Stream and then north to the North Atlantic Current, said Art Allen with the Coast Guard's Office of Search and Rescue. From there it would have headed east to Spain before being located 1,241 days later, after a 3,500 nautical mile trip.

Referring to the boat's extended voyage, Dr. Don Murphy with the U.S. Coast Guard's International Ice Patrol said that a trans-Atlantic drift is rare, but not unheard of. 

The Coast Guard deploys data collection buoys designed to track, study, and report currents in the northern Atlantic, said Murphy. Those buoys have been recovered anywhere from regions north of Scotland to, most recently and coincidentally, Spain.

BOSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard and Massachusetts College of Art and Design teamed up this winter to develop a series of multimedia projects designed to help educate the public about Coast Guard missions.

By law, the Coast Guard has 11 missions:

• Ports, waterways, and coastal security
• Drug interdiction
• Aids to navigation
• Search and rescue
• Living marine resources
• Marine safety
• Defense readiness
• Migrant interdiction
• Marine environmental protection
• Ice operations
• Other law enforcement

The 1st Coast Guard District public affairs office in Boston reached out to MassArt last summer to get some ideas on how to share those missions visually.

"In public affairs, it's our job to keep Americans informed about how the Coast Guard gets the job done," said Lt. Joe Klinker, 1st Coast Guard District public affairs officer. "We could just do that the old-fashioned way through news releases and the occasional TV appearance, but the age of new media opens up endless possibilities for creativity. That's where MassArt came in."

The goal of the project was to work with students who would come to the table with fresh perspectives and an ambition for visual storytelling, said Klinker. Klinker teamed up with Lisa Rosowsky, a graphic design professor at MassArt, to come up with a plan that met everyone's needs.

Each of Rosowsky's students were assigned a mission and then told to arrange visits to units throughout the northeast. After several weeks of visits to boat stations, cutters, air stations, and other operational units, the students presented their projects.

"Our students got the experience of going out on the water, of going inside the facilities and actually talking with the people who were involved in the day to day missions of the Coast Guard," Rosowsky said.

While some of the work has already been used in boating safety campaigns and news releases, the 1st Coast Guard District intends to work with students over the months ahead to ensure that every detail is ready for public visibility.

Below are snapshot icons of student work. Find out who the student was by scrolling over the image:

BOSTON — The Piscataqua River, in the vicinity of the Memorial (US-1) Bridge in Portsmouth, N.H., will be closed to all marine traffic from 7 a.m. on February 6, 2012 to approximately 7 a.m. on February 9, 2012.  The river closure is necessary to provide for the safety of all waterway users and construction workers during bridge demolition operations.

The rescheduling of the closure will allow additional preperations to be made in order to successfully complete the removal of the bridge span.

The Coast Guard continues to work closely with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) to help facilitate their plan to replace the Memorial Bridge and to ensure the safety of all waterway users.  The Coast Guard has published a Temporary Interim Rule in the Federal Register that establishes a Regulated Navigation Area (RNA) to encompass a 300-yard radius over all navigable waters on the Piscataqua River, surface to bottom, in the vicinity of the Memorial Bridge construction zone in between Portsmouth, NH and Badgers Island in Kittery, ME.  The RNA is in effect from January 30, 2012 to December 31, 2013.  To minimize unexpected or uncontrolled movement of water during hazardous construction operations, the RNA will limit vessel speed and wake for all vessels operating in the vicinity of the bridge construction zone, as well as provide a means to suspend all vessel traffic for emergent situations that pose an imminent threat to waterway users in the area.  

After the 72-hour closure, the navigable water will reopen to all vessel traffic.  However, the RNA will remain in effect through December 31, 2013 to ensure safety during NHDOT's bridge replacement project, which is expected to conclude by the end of 2013.

To view the RNA in the Federal Register, click here.

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BOSTON — A U.S. Coast Guard rescue crew medically evacuated an ill crewman from the 84-ft fishing vessel Polaris, 12-miles east of Nantucket, Thursday.

Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England watchstanders received a report from the captain of vessel at approximately 5:30 p.m., stating that a 37-year old male on board was suffering from severe stomach pains.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod launched immediately to aid the ill man.

The man was given first aid assistance and was transported to Hyannis Airport at 7:15 p.m., where emergency medical services were waiting to take him to Cape Cod Hospital.

"The coordination with Hyannis Airport and Cape Cod Hospital was seamless," said Lt. j.g. Jared Carbajal, the Public Affairs Officer at Air Station Cape Cod. "It resulted in immediate medical transportation and treatment once the helicopter arrived at the airport."

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BOSTON — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer returned to their homeport of Boston Sunday, after a 60-day patrol in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea.

Throughout the patrol, crewmembers patrolled the fishing grounds near Cape Cod. The crew conducted three commercial fishing vessel safety boardings, helping prepare vessels for winter and rougher weather.

Crewmembers worked jointly with the U.S. Navy to seize a Honduran fishing vessel transporting 1.5 tons of contraband and 17 smugglers.

In addition, Spencer also participated in an international training exercise with the Colombian navy and coast guard. Crews simulated a joint pursuit of a go-fast vessel and conducted mock boardings.

After refueling in Key West, Fla., last week, the crew began the long transit home. Spencer returned to her homeport in Boston to prepare for a crew-swap with her sister ship, Escanaba.

The Mission Effectiveness Project is a fleet-wide initiative to ensure the operational reliability of the Coast Guard’s 13 270-foot Famous Class cutters remains viable until replacement by the Offshore Patrol Cutter. While the Escanaba is undergoing the refurbishment to improve living quarters and common spaces, MEP also focuses on replacing decks, tanks, piping, electrical wiring and troublesome engineering systems and equipment.

The overall goal is to ensure a seamless transition with minimal impact to the Coast Guard’s operational capabilities and mission execution. Multi-crew initiatives such as this keep crews fully trained to respond to the Coast Guard’s ever changing missions and ensures there is no loss in mission capabilities as a result of cutter overhauls and implementation of new cutter platforms.

BREWSTER, Mass. — The U.S. Coast Guard has ended their search for the missing aircraft and its two-person crew off Brewster, Mass., Sunday.

The two people aboard the small aircraft were located deceased by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod and a Brewster Fire Department crew at Saint’s Landing in Brewster, Mass.

Brewster Fire Department located the first person and the helicopter crew located the second person shortly after.

“The search conditions were challenging, but we had good communications with the Dennis Police Department and other ground crews, which enabled us to direct ground crews to the second person when we located him in the surf,” said Lt. j.g. Jared Carbajal, the Coast Guard helicopter co-pilot.

Neither the plane nor its wreckage has been located.

“It’s a sad way to end a flight,” said Carbajal. “It’s certainly not the outcome we were hoping for, but I just hope the families will be able to have some closure.”

Both names are being withheld pending next of kin notification by the Brewster Police Department.

"First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends," said Lt. Joe Klinker, 1st Coast Guard District public affairs officer. "We could see it on the faces of all the first responders. Everyone was hoping the search would end very differently."

In addition to the helicopter crew, an HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Air Station Cape Cod, a Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft, a 41-foot Utility Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Cape Cod Canal and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Provincetown spent several hours searching for the single engine plane and its crew. 

The Coast Guard began searching for the plane after receiving a report from the Federal Aviation Association stating they had lost communication with the plane after the crew reported having smoke in their cabin. 

The initial release can be found here.

BOSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary are searching for a small aircraft after receiving a report the aircraft may be in distress in the vicinity of Dennis, Mass., and Yarmouth, Mass., Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration contacted Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England command center at 10:23 a.m. and indicated they lost all communication with the four-seat airplane after receiving a report from the crew of smoke in the cabin.

The command center diverted a Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft and a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet crew from their scheduled patrols to search. They also launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. A 41-foot Utility Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Cape Cod Canal and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Provincetown were also launched.

The command center crew contacted the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center to inquire if they received any reports of a downed aircraft or if the plane’s beacon went off. They have not received a report of either.

“We are working with our partners from Barnstable, Yarmouth and Dennis to locate the missing aircraft,” said Lt. Bryan Swintek, the command center chief.

It is unknown at this time how many people are aboard the plane that was flying from Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., to Hyannis, Mass.

"There's still work left to do to determine the location and status of the aircraft and its passengers," said Lt. Joe Klinker, 1st Coast Guard District public affairs officer. "But our crews got on scene quickly and our command center personnel are coordinating the entire operation. This is exactly what they're all trained to do."

BOSTON — Recreational boating and paddling fatalities on waters of the northeastern U.S. have remained nearly the same for the second year in a row.

The 1st Coast Guard District recorded a preliminary total of 51 deaths during 2011. There were 50 fatalities in 2009 and 51 fatalities in 2010. Capsizing or falling overboard while not wearing a life jacket were the main factors resulting in fatalities.

Boating fatalities were divided between 29 deaths on motorized vessels and 22 deaths on non-motorized vessels.

Due to the tremendous growth in kayaking over the past decade, and the long-standing interest in canoeing, northeastern paddle-sport fatalities are typically double the national average.

Out of the 51 deaths last year, 44 of the boaters were not wearing lifejackets.

"Lifejackets save lives", said Walt Taylor, recreational boating safety specialist, 1st Coast Guard District "Take a boating education course, ensure you have all the required safety equipment to have a safe and fun boating season next year."

One memorable case in 2011 involved the death of N.Y. Police Department officer Patrick Luca who drowned while kayaking with his son off Long Island (Click here for original release.). The high-profile nature of the case captured public interest and emphasized the significance of simple decisions, like wearing a life jacket.

"It's extremely important to get these statistics out," said Lt. Joe Klinker, 1st Coast Guard District public affairs officer. "But it's even more important for all of us to realize that these aren't just numbers. They were friends, parents, spouses, sons and daughters. They were neighbors in a very close maritime community."

While the Coast Guard continues to deliver the message of safe boating, this year, said Klinker, the Coast Guard is making a special plea to the friends and families of all boaters: Hold your loved ones accountable and make sure they take the right steps to come home safe.

RESOURCES:

For a geographic breakdown and overall numbers of incidents and fatalities in 2011, click here.

For boating safety information, click here.

As the Coast Guard records the national statistics for 2011, the 2010 information is available here.

Safe-boating courses are available through the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and U.S. Power Squadrons. Course information may be found at:

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
U.S. Power Squadrons
U.S. Coast Guard Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety
National Association of State Boating Law Administrators

BOSTON — A New Jersey-based U.S. Coast Guard crew is en route to tow a disabled New Bedford, Mass., fishing boat to port after it became disabled more than 20 miles southeast of Portsmouth, N.H., Thursday.

The four-person crew of the 75-foot stern trawler Bulldog used their radio to contact watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Northern New England Command Center to report the vessel’s engine shaft had broken and they needed assistance.

The watchstanders issued a marine assistance broadcast requesting any mariners in the area to assist, but did not receive any responses.

A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat from Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor was launched and the Coast Guard Cutter Dependable, based in Cape May, N.J., was diverted from Cape Cod Bay.

“After the station boat crew arrived on scene, they initially thought they would be able to tow the vessel, but given the poor weather conditions and the size of the boat, towing the trawler exceeded the limitations of the 47-foot boat,” said Chris Berry, the search and rescue controller at the sector command center.

The 210-foot Dependable is expected to arrive on scene around midnight and tow the Bulldog and its crew to Gloucester, Mass. Sector command center watchstanders in South Portland, Maine, have the trawler on a 30 minute communication schedule to en sure the safety of the vessel and its crew.

There are no reports of injuries.

On scene weather conditions were 30-knot winds, 8 to 10-foot seas and about two miles of visibility.

The Coast Guard’s readiness and constant presence on America’s coasts and waterways enable a fast, flexible response to crisis.

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BOSTON — The media is invited to the presentation of the Purple Heart to the family of a World War I Coast Guardsman in New Castle, N.H., Friday.

U.S. Senator for New Hampsire, Kelly Ayotte, and the 1^st District commander, Rear Adm. Daniel Neptun, are scheduled to present the prestigious award to the family of Water Tender Fred Wyman, a crewman aboard the USS Tampa when it was hit and sunk by the German U-boat 91, Sept. 26, 1918, killing 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy men, a captain of the British Army, 10 seamen of the Royal Navy, and five civilian employee dock workers.  This was reportedly the largest loss due to enemy action suffered by U.S. Naval Forces in World War I.

After the United States declared war with Germany the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa and other Coast Guard cutters were transferred to the U.S. Navy and received the designations as USS Tampa.

The Purple Heart is a U.S. military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military.

WHERE: Coast Guard Station Portsmouth Harbor –
              25 Wentworth Rd.
              New Castle, N.H.

WHEN: Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 at 10:30 a.m.

WHY: To honor Water Tender Fred Wyman for his service

WHO: U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte
          Rear Adm. Daniel Neptun, 1^st Coast Guard District Commander
          Douglas Wyman Sr., will receive the Purple Heart on behalf of Fred Wyman.

BOSTON – In two different northeastern states, five fishermen are safe after their vessels sank this past weekend.

During separate events, the fishermen were transported safely back to shore by Coast Guard rescue crews from Rhode Island and New York. In each case, the fishermen were able to alert rescue crews and enter their vessels' life rafts before the vessels sank. 

Saturday, the crew of the West Kingston, R.I.,-based fishing vessel Elizabeth Helen was hauling in their catch when the vessel sank three miles northeast of Block Island, R.I. The Coast Guard was notified when the crew activated their emergency position indicating radio beacon, which transmits a GPS position to rescuers in the event of an emergency. Because the beacon had been properly registered with authorities, Coast Guard responders were able to verify the transmission as an emergency and launch immediately.

A rescue crew from Coast Guard Station Point Judith, R.I., arrived at the GPS location and spotted the fishermen after the distressed crew fired red flares into the air. By that point, the fishermen had abandoned their sinking vessel and embarked their life raft. The two men were brought safely back to shore, checked by local medical personnel and released. (News release is available here.)

Sunday, the crew of the fishing vessel Vincenzo abandoned their vessel after it began taking on water 12 miles south of Shinnecock, N.Y. The three crewmembers put on the their survival suits, radioed for help, and entered the vessel’s life raft. The crew also took the vessel’s EPIRB to activate in case responders were unable to locate them. The Coast Guard launched a rescue boat from Station Shinnecock and issued a radio broadcast asking mariners in the area to render assistance. The fishing vessel Rhonda & Denise responded to the broadcast, rescued all three fishermen, and later transferred them to a Coast Guard rescue boat.  The three survivors were brought safely to shore. No injuries were reported. (News release is available here.)

With the frigid temperatures out at sea, lives can be lost or saved in a matter of minutes. Both incidents demonstrate how emergency equipment and well-prepared mariners aided in their own rescue. By contacting rescuers either by radio or with an emergency beacon, the mariners provided information that greatly increased their odds of survival.

"It wasn't luck that brought these fishermen home alive," said Lt. Joe Klinker, First Coast Guard District public affairs officer. "It was their decision to prepare for the worst."

BOSTON — A U.S. Coast Guard boat crew rescued two people around  5 p.m. from a sinking vessel approximately three miles northeast of Block Island, R.I., Saturday.

Watchstanders from the 1st Coast Guard District Command Center in Boston received an alert from an electronic position indicating radio beacon from the 55-foot fishing vessel Elizabeth Helen, homeported in West Kingston, R.I., at approximately 3:54 pm.

Station Point Judith, R.I., launched a 47-foot Motor Life Boat to locate the missing vessel. The rescue crew located the life raft after spotting a red flare and retrieved the men to safety at 4:48 p.m. The fishing vessel capsized with 900 gallons of diesel fuel on board in approximately 130-foot water during a haul back.

“We saw the red flare go off and were able to spot their life raft in the water,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew McKenzie, the coxswain from Station Point Judith. “It is extremely important to have functional safety equipment on board especially now as the temperature begins to drop.”

The crew met awaiting medical personnel at Station Point Judith. No injuries were reported.

"The success of this case is a real testament to the diligence and effort of the watchstanders and crews involved," said Lt. Joe Klinker, First Coast Guard District public affairs officer. "With 20,000 fishing vessels operating in the Northeastern U.S., the Coast Guard is monitoring those waters, 24 hours a day, for exactly this reason."

Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod will conduct an over flight Sunday morning to investigate any potential of pollution. 

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