U.S. Coast Guard – Page 48 – Professional Mariner

06 Oct

Coast Guard cutter Healy reaches North Pole

Rich MillerMaritime NewsU.S. Coast Guard

(NORTH POLE) — The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Healy (WAGB 20) reached the North Pole on Friday after traversing the frozen Arctic Ocean, marking only the second time a U.S. ship has reached the location unaccompanied, the first being Healy in 2015. Healy, a medium icebreaker, and crew departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on Sept. 4, beginning its journey to reach…

05 Oct

Low water in Lower Mississippi causes multiple groundings

Rich MillerCasualty Newsbrownwater, Tugboats and towing, U.S. Coast Guard

(NEW ORLEANS) — The U.S. Coast Guard continues to respond to multiple barge groundings due to low water levels in the Lower Mississippi River. There are reports of barge groundings Tuesday near Stack Island, Miss., with a waterway restriction from mile marker 478 to 492, and Memphis, Tenn., with a waterway closure from mile marker 686 to 676. "Due to…

04 Oct

Opinion: Coast Guard must do more to restore navigational aids on Western rivers

Rich MillerMaritime Newsbrownwater, Navigation, U.S. Coast Guard

By Capt. Gregory L. Smith Imagine for a second driving your car through traffic in a strange city with missing or misleading road signs, traffic lights and lane markings. Over the past decade, that is exactly the kind of navigation Western river mariners have increasingly been expected to perform. Technology that would permit 100 percent virtual aids to navigation (ATONs) may become available…

03 Oct

Coast Guard medevacs crewman from dredge near Houston

Rich MillerCasualty Newsbrownwater, dredging, U.S. Coast Guard

(HOUSTON) — The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a 37-year-old man Monday from a dredging vessel in Houston. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston command center watch standers received a medevac request at 9:26 a.m. from the captain of dredging vessel Terrapin Island stating a crewman had severely injured his hand and was in need of assistance. The incident occurred in the Houston…

03 Oct

NTSB plans public meeting on cause of SEACOR Power capsizing

Rich MillerCasualty NewsNTSB, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — On Oct. 18, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a virtual public board meeting to determine the probable cause for the 2021 capsizing of the liftboat SEACOR Power. The board will discuss these four safety issues: • Gaps in forecasting and communications of weather events. • Operation and stability of restricted-service liftboats…

30 Sep

Construction barge goes adrift, grounds in Corpus Christi

Rich MillerCasualty NewsU.S. Coast Guard

(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to an adrift barge that ran aground near the Packery Channel in Corpus Christi on Thursday. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi command center watch standers received a call at 7:45 a.m. from a driver on Texas State Highway 361 stating they saw an adrift barge floating in the Packery Channel…

30 Sep

Lessons learned: NTSB’s Safer Seas Digest 2021

Rich MillerMaritime Newscasualties, U.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its Safer Seas Digest 2021, which highlights the most important lessons learned from marine investigations last year. Safer Seas Digest 2021 details the lessons learned from 31 maritime tragedies involving capsizings, contact, collisions, fires, flooding and groundings. Among the investigations included in the report are the sinking of Scandies Rose,…

30 Sep

Coast Guard Foundation activates disaster relief program

Rich MillerMaritime NewsU.S. Coast Guard

(STONINGTON, Conn.) — The Coast Guard Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening the Coast Guard community and service by supporting members and families, has activated its emergency disaster relief program to provide assistance to Coast Guard members and their families impacted by Hurricane Ian. Hurricane Ian brought massive flooding and wind damage to the Southeast United States and will…

29 Sep

COVID-19 extensions for MMC renewals expire Oct. 31

Rich MillerLicensing & TrainingU.S. Coast Guard

(WASHINGTON) — Mariners who had their U.S. Coast Guard merchant mariner credential expire between Nov. 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021 are eligible to renew their MMC until Oct. 31, 2022. Mariners will need to reinstate their MMC if it is over the one-year grace period after expiration or a mariner is not able to take advantage of the extensions…

19 Sep

Study calls for Pacific ‘fairways’ for safer navigation

Rich MillerMaritime NewsNavigation, U.S. Coast Guard

(ALAMEDA, Calif.) — The U.S. Coast Guard is requesting public comment on the draft Pacific Coast Port Access Route Study (PAC-PARS). This is the first comprehensive evaluation of vessel traffic patterns in waters off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. A Federal Register notice of availability for the draft PAC-PARS has been opened for comment. Comments and related materials…