Posts Tagged ‘Air Station Borinquen’
Coast Guard suspends search for more than 90 Dominicans
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Coast Guard rescue crews suspended their search at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a missing yola (boat) with more than 90 Dominican migrants aboard, that reportedly went missing while traveling illegally to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic.
Coast Guard searching for more than 40 Dominicans aboard missing yola
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Coast Guard rescue crews continue searching Monday for a missing yola (boat) with more than 40 Dominican migrants aboard, that reportedly went missing while traveling illegally to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic.
Coast Guard repatriates 70 Dominicans to La Romana, Dominican Republic
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo repatriated 70 Dominican migrants to La Romana, Dominican Republic Wednesday morning, while 20 others were detained for prosecution following an at-sea interdiction by Coast Guard law enforcement authorities Tuesday.
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Chincoteague located and interdicted a migrant yola Tuesday morning, while patrolling Mona Passage waters, approximately four nautical miles southwest of Rincón, Puerto Rico.
Coast Guard suspends search for missing swimmer in waters off Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Coast Guard rescue crews suspended their search Monday afternoon for a man who went missing Sunday while swimming in waters off the Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Coast Guard repatriates 41 Dominicans to La Romana, Dominican Republic
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Sapelo repatriated 41 Dominican migrants to La Romana, Dominican Republic Thursday morning, while 16 others were detained for prosecution following an at-sea interdiction by Coast Guard law enforcement authorities Tuesday.
Coast Guard Repatriates 146 Dominicans to La Romana, Dominican Republic
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo repatriated 146 Dominican migrants to La Romana, Dominican Republic Friday morning, following an at-sea interdiction by Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) agencies Wednesday.
Coast Guard law enforcement personnel detained 11 Dominicans of the 157 migrants aboard the interdicted yola, for attempting to enter illegally into the United States or a U.S. Territory on multiple occasions. The United States Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico accepted to prosecute their cases.
23 Crewmen Aboard Liberian Tanker Medevaced, 12 Remain with Ship
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Coast Guard and Puerto Rico Emergency Response Agencies combined efforts to medevac 23 crewmembers Thursday who suffered from food poisoning, while transiting aboard the Liberian 580-foot chemical tanker Stolt Sapphire in waters approximately 57 nautical miles south of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
The 35-man crew of the Stolt Sapphire consisted of 27 Filipino, four Latvian, two Chinese, one Polish and one Ukrainian nationals, who were transporting chemical cargo from St. Eustatius, Netherland Antilles to Houston, Texas at the time of the incident. A vessel’s crewman reported that all 23 crewmembers were suffering from food poisoning after eating barracuda Wednesday night.
Coast Guard controllers received initial notification from the crew of the chemical tanker at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday and launched an Air Station Borinquen HH-65 Dolphin helicopter to rendezvous with the Stolt Sapphire offshore. The helicopter crew arrived on scene with the Stolt Sapphire at approximately 3:28 p.m. Thursday and deployed a health services specialist onboard the tanker vessel who determined that five passengers, including the vessel’s Captain, required to be medevaced to receive medical care ashore.
The helicopter crew utilized their rescue basket to initially hoist and medevac three of the crewmembers ashore, and then returned to the vessel to medevac the remaining two crewmembers. All five vessel crewmembers where transported to the Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action Air Station in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The patients were transferred to awaiting Emergency Medical Services personnel and then transported to the Pila Hospital in Ponce to receive further medical care.
The Stolt Sapphire received a harbor pilot onboard prior to entering the Ponce Harbor under the escort of two tug boats and anchoring the vessel in the harbor’s anchorage area. Coast Guard controllers coordinated with Puerto Rico Department of Health medical personnel who deployed onboard the vessel and removed 18 additional crewmembers from the vessel who were transferred to local hospitals in Ponce. The 12 crewmembers with no signs of illness remained on board the vessel.
The Stolt Sapphire will remain anchored at the Ponce Harbor until arrangements are made by the vessel’s agent and owners to man the vessel with a fully qualified crew.
Coast Guard and Puerto Rico emergency response agencies effectively came together during this response and helped 23 mariners who where at sea in need of assistance,” said Lt. Juan Herandez, Sector San Juan Command Duty Officer.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel and Puerto Rico State Emergency Management Agency personnel also responded to the scene and where involved in coordinating part of the interagency response.
Coast Guard repatriates 22 Dominicans, Detains 10 others for Prosecution
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Coast Guard cutter personnel and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents discovered 32 Dominicans traveling illegally from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico aboard a migrant boat Saturday night.
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo repatriated 22 of the Dominican migrants to La Romana, Dominican Republic Sunday, following an at-sea interdiction by Department of Homeland Security law enforcement authorities Saturday, while the 10 other Dominican migrants were brought ashore for prosecution.
The crew of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Dash-8 aircraft detected and tracked the migrant boat Saturday night while patrolling Mona Passage waters, approximately 23 nautical miles southwest of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico.
Coast Guard Sector San Juan controllers diverted Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo to the scene. The Key Largo interdicted the migrant vessel late Saturday night embarking 21 men and 11 women, who requested to be taken off the 25-foot grossly overloaded boat that was disabled and adrift. The crew of an Air Station Borinquen HH-65 Dolphin helicopter flew rescue support at the scene, while the migrants disembarked their boat and went on board the Key Largo.
The crew of the Key Largo collected the migrant’s biometric information and destroyed the yola as a hazard to navigation. Coast Guard law enforcement personnel detained 10 Dominicans, nine men and one woman, for attempting to enter illegally into the United States or a U.S. Territory on multiple occasions. The United States Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico accepted to prosecute their cases.
The Key Largo proceeded to rendezvous with U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Mayaguez Harbor, Puerto Rico and brought them on board the cutter Saturday night to conduct migrant interviews and background checks on their biographic information. The crew of the Key Largo turned custody of the 10 detained Dominican migrants over to U.S. Border Patrol agents, and then proceeded to the Dominican Republic to repatriate the remaining 22 migrants.
The Key Largo arrived at La Romana, Dominican Republic at 9 a.m. Sunday, where the crew transferred custody of the remaining 22 migrants to awaiting Dominican Republic naval authorities.
The biometric capability employed in this case provides the Coast Guard with an important tool to definitively establish the identity of those interdicted at sea who may attempt to enter or re-enter the United States illegally, or who may pose a threat to national security.
Collecting biometric identification supports the U.S. Government’s efforts to target human smugglers and protect migrants put at risk attempting to enter the United States illegally from the sea.
Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo is a 110-foot patrol boat home ported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.