Coast Guard medevacs man suffering from heart attack symptoms in Virginia Beach, Virginia. A Coast Guard aircrew medevaced a 57-year-old 18 miles northeast of Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, Dec. 1. The man was reportedly suffering from symptoms of a heart attack aboard the 75-foot fishing vessel Ruddee Mariner when the captain of the ship contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Virginia. The man was hoisted aboard the rescue helicopter. The aircrew transported him to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital for medical care. Read more.
Coast Guard called out after a suspicious boat crash into Ventura coast, California. On Dec. 1, a suspicious boat emerged from the afternoon fog along the Rincon on the upper end of the Ventura County coast, California. It had rammed into a rock wall and was breaking up. The small vessel, sometimes referred to as a panga boat, is often associated with drug or human smuggling operations out of Mexico. Coast Guard Cutter Blackfin, an 87-foot patrol boat stationed in Santa Barbara and a Coast Guard helicopter were called to the area to look for anyone associated with the vessel. No one was found. Read more.
Coast Guard will 'platoon' icebreakers in Twin Ports, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. Stranded between its last and next Coast Guard cutters, Duluth-Superior will be reliant on a temporary plan for breaking ice in 2021-2022. “The icebreaking needs of Duluth-Superior will be met with a Coast Guard asset,” said Mark Gill, director of vessel traffic services based at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Cutters capable of breaking ice will be moved to Duluth-Superior in the weeks prior to season’s end Jan. 15, 2022, and again before the reopening of the Soo Locks at the start of the 2022-2023 season around March 25, 2022, Gill said. Coast Guard plans to “platoon” different 140-foot cutters to maintain open water in the shipping channels, he added. The Twin Ports is without a Coast Guard vessel since the Cutter Alder departed for a year of maintenance in July preceding its move to the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more.