(SAN PEDRO, Calif.) — The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its active search Tuesday evening for a crewmember who fell off a bulk carrier while transiting the Santa Barbara Channel Traffic Separation Scheme en route to the Port of Long Beach.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to this crewmember’s friends and family,” said Chief Warrant Officer John Rose, search and rescue mission coordinator at Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach. “The decision to suspend an active search is never easy and is only made after exhaustive efforts to find the missing person.”
At approximately 5 a.m. Tuesday, Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach Command Center watch standers received a report of a crewmember who went overboard from the bulker African Cardinal about 14 miles southwest of Point Conception.
The watch standers immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast via VHF Channel 16, stating the nature of the situation. The watch standers directed the launch of an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter rescue crew from Forward Operating Base Point Mugu, a small boat crew from Coast Guard Station Channel Islands, and diverted the Coast Guard cutter Robert Ward to conduct the search.
The Coast Guard crews searched by air and sea for nearly 15 hours, covering more than 200 square nautical miles.
– U.S. Coast Guard
