Accidents of the Week - February 10, 2024
BoatTEST publishes “Accidents of the Week” as a public service for our VIP Subscribers to acquaint them with potential boating dangers and by inference their prevention.
Cruise Ship Rescues Two Off Mexico’s Isla Mujeres
1/29/24 – Galveston, TX
Two men were rescued by a Carnival Cruise ship that departed from Galveston, Texas, after their boat sank in the Gulf of Mexico. The men were using a kayak to stay afloat after their shipwreck.
According to the cruise line, Carnival Jubilee's team rescued the men off the coast of Isla Mujeres, in Mexico. The crew spotted the two men in a kayak and brought them on board, where medical staff evaluated them and gave them first aid and food before dropping them off on land.
Multiple Agencies, Coast Guard Respond to Fire in Baltimore Harbor
1/31/24 – Baltimore, MD
The Coast Guard and multiple partner agencies responded to a multi-vessel fire on 31 January in the Anchorage Marina, on the Patapsco River in Baltimore.
A good Samaritan alerted Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region watchstanders to the fire at approximately 9 a.m. and reported that he heard a popping noise and saw two boats engulfed in flames. Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay launched a 45-foot Response Boat - Medium crew to support response efforts.
Once the boat crew arrived on scene, a Baltimore City Fire Department crewmember embarked the Coast Guard boat to assist with extinguishing efforts. Additionally, the marina’s manager reported that a man was aboard one of the engulfed vessels but said that he was rescued by Baltimore City Fire Department and Maryland Natural Resources Police.
Containment Boom Deployed to Mitigate Pollution
After the fire was extinguished, one of the affected vessels sank with an unknown amount of diesel fuel on board. Maryland Department of the Environment personnel deployed a containment boom to mitigate pollution effects. Coast Guard pollution responders remained on scene to monitor the situation and assist with cleanup efforts.
No waterways or marine traffic impacts were reported as a result of the incident, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Lobstermen Help Rescue Missing Boater Off Maine Coast
1/28/24 – St George, ME
Several agencies and local lobstermen combined forces on 28 January to rescue a boater who failed to return to shore in St. George, Maine, a Knox County town in the middle of the Maine coast that includes the villages of Port Clyde and Tenants Harbor.
The man apparently went out in a small skiff to retrieve parts of a dock that had washed away during recent storms, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said in a press release on 29 January. However, he was reported missing by family shortly before 5 p.m., after he did not arrive by an anticipated time.
Local lobstermen heard Maine Marine Patrol and United States Coast Guard chatter on their radios and decided to stay in the area until they knew whether their assistance could be needed, according to a social media post by St. George Fire and Rescue.
A nearby resident notified St. George Fire and Rescue of what sounded like someone yelling from the direction of Northern Island, the release stated. The resident helped first responders find the man, who was conscious but unable to move, on the shore of Northern Island at approximately 5 p.m., officials said.
Lobstermen helped shuttle first responders to and from shore, with the final crews returning around 8 p.m. "This would not have been accomplished without the help from each and every person who was involved tonight," St. George Fire and Rescue said. "We want to extend our deepest gratitude to all of you for showing up and putting in the work, like you always do."
The man who was rescued asked officials not to publicly identify him, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said. He was removed from the island by a small Maine Marine Patrol boat, brought to a waiting U.S. Coast Guard vessel, then taken to shore in Tenants Harbor, where an ambulance provided transportation to a local hospital.
Two Seriously Injured in North Miami Boat Crash
1/29/24 – Miami, FL
After two people were left seriously injured, authorities were investigating what they described as a boat collision near the Broad Causeway in North Miami.
Local news cameras captured officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) as they surrounded one of the vessels involved near Bay Harbor Islands, just after 5 p.m. on 28 January. Investigators said the crash had occurred at around 4 p.m.
They said the two boats somehow collided, causing a 45-year-old man to be ejected. That victim was airlifted to a nearby hospital as a trauma alert. Witnesses said they saw someone being pulled off one of the boats, and it appeared that they were undergoing a field sobriety test with one of the FWC officers. The second boat involved in the crash was towed away from the scene at around 4:30 p.m.
Stranded Boaters Rescued Off Florida Coast
1/28/24 – Tampa, FL
Two stranded boaters were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) near Venice, Florida, on the night of 28 January.
A crew from USCG Station Cortez in Manatee County were called out to help two distressed boaters, the Coast Guard wrote in a social media post. The boat, called Revival, lost steering about two miles west of the Venice Inlet, likely due to rough seas. USCG reported 5 to 6-foot seas and 15-knot (17 mph) winds in the area.
USCG broadcast a warning to boaters about the unoccupied vessel.
Man Hospitalized After Kayak Capsizes in Sacramento River
2/1/24 – Sacramento, CA
A kayaker was pulled from the Sacramento River and rushed to hospital in critical condition after his kayak capsized north of Discovery Park in Sacramento, California, on the morning of 1 February.
At about 9:15 a.m., rescue crews responded to the 1300 block of Garden Highway after receiving a report that a man was in the water near Chevys, just north of the confluence between the Sacramento and American Rivers.
Justin Sylvia, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Fire Department, said the person who called 911 tried to rescue the kayaker by getting into a pontoon boat. Sylvia said this was after the person had tried to throw a life ring out at the man, but the person told rescue crews that the man was too weak to grab the ring.
When rescue crews arrived, they found the Good Samaritan had stopped the body but was unable to grab the man. This is when fire crews managed to pull the man out of the water and start CPR. Sylvia said the man was then rushed to hospital under CPR.
Kayaker Not Wearing PFD
The man was believed to be in his 50s, living on a boat upstream, and appeared to be recreating. Rescue crews estimated he had been in the water for about 20-30 minutes and had drifted about a quarter mile.
He was not wearing a life jacket and water levels were high. Sylvia said the combination of those two was a "recipe for disaster."
Man Knocked Overboard, Body Recovered in Louisiana Lake
1/28/24 – Vernon Parish, LA
A boating incident that occurred on Louisiana’s Vernon Lake, resulting in the death of a man from Pineville, was under investigation by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).
The department said the body of Derek Green, 42, was recovered from Vernon Lake around 4:20 p.m. on 28 January. LDWF added that it had received information about a missing boater at around 9:40 a.m. that day.
LDWF, along with the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office, Leesville Fire Department and the Alexandria Fire Department, began a search for Green, who was operating the trolling motor on his boat when a wave hit the boat and knocked him into the water. The department said two juvenile passengers who were on the boat revealed that Green had resurfaced a few times and then was not seen again.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries took the lead on the investigation of the incident, while Green’s body was turned over to the Vernon Parish Coroner’s Office to determine an official cause of death.