The Maritime Mobile Service Net Part 5

This is the final installment in our 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery

Four Decades and Going Strong!

Four decades of service have not dulled the skill or dedication of the MMSN. While many amateur radio operators see their time on the air as “just a hobby,” the members of the Maritime Mobile Service Network see their time on 14.300 MHz as the place “Where Emergency Communication is a Commitment!”

The MMSN management and members invite you to visit the Net’s website at www.mmsn.org where you can see more reports like this one taken from the Net Log (Recent Events) dated May 4-5, 2007.

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On Friday May 4, 2007, at approximately 1340z, a “Mayday” call was relayed to the Intercon Net Control station, Wes KI0A (also a MMSN Net Control) in Tyler TX.

W7DUG and N5OTB reported that SV Sailabout (non-ham) was calling “Mayday” on the frequency but, due to propagation conditions, was not being answered. (In an emergency, a ham license is not required to call for help on the MMSN frequency.) KI0A could not hear Sailabout well so he handed the frequency to Fletcher KA4BPR (MMSN Net Control in Dothan AL). Sailabout was a 35′ vessel, Norwegian flagged, with two people onboard, Captain Gunnar and Grethe.

With the assistance of relay stations, the position of the Sailabout was determined to be approximately 05-53.0S x 100-46.0W, or about 700 miles Southwest of the Galapagos Islands. It was also determined that Sailabout had suffered damage to the bow when the forestay was lost. At this time, Sailabout reported that they were taking-on water and had about one meter in the boat but the pumps were working. Sailabout reported that the seas were six to eight feet with 16-18 knot winds out of the south-east. Captain Gunnar was also concerned that the mast might come down which, aside from the obvious damage, would also take down the radio antenna.

USCG Alameda was notified and apprised of the situation. KA4BPR was assisted by many other stations (both on the air and over other net communication channels) in gathering and relaying critical information for the USCG.

At 1425z, at the request of the USCG, Sailabout activated their EPIRB and the signal was received and plotted. USCG was able to contact and divert two vessels to the assistance of Sailabout. The commercial vessels were the MV Belnor and MV Ivory Dawn. However, both vessels estimated a significant period of time before they could arrive at Sailabout.

Two private sailing vessels also changed course and began to head to Sailabout’s assistance. They were Colleen and Tom on SV Mokisha (non-ham) and Ute and Paul M0PWJ on SV Damarri. Damarri estimated five hours while Mokisha estimated 12 - 14 hours. Ultimately, Mokisha had to abandon their efforts as they were battling headwinds and high seas and not making any progress.

Sailabout was able to get underway and changed course towards Damarri. The net maintained a regular radio schedule with both vessels and updated the USCG, as they did not have direct communication with Sailabout.

At approximately 2200z, Damarri estimated that he would be near Sailabout approximately 0400z (May 5). Damarri reported that the seas were now 12 to 14 feet with strong winds. However, it was clear from the updated positions that both vessels were closing on each other

At 0137z (May 5) Damarri reported that he has made visual and VHF radio contact with the Sailabout. Damarri did not attempt to transfer the two people from Sailabout due to the wind and sea conditions. Damarri stood-off approximately 1nm from Sailabout, to avoid a collision. All was reasonably well onboard both vessels, although both crews were extremely fatigued. Sailabout reported the leak was still under control but the mast was of greatest concern.

At 1100z, the Intercon Net resumed operations and communication with Dumarri was re-established by the relay stations. Both vessels are standing-by for the Belnor and their situation was unchanged. The net maintained a radio schedule with the vessels and updated the USCG with position and condition reports throughout the morning.

At 1530z, SV Damarri confirmed that MV Belnor had arrived and transferred both persons from Sailabout to Belnor. Sailabout was abandoned at sea. This occurred at 05-07.5N x 101-23.8W. The Belnor would take Gunar and Grethe to Panama while Damarri continued onto the Marqueses.

The net received significant assistance from Gene KI4EYF on SV Queen Mary, in Honduras. Gene had good contact with all vessels and net control stations and he was able to relay critical information, updates and instructions to and from the vessels. Without Gene’s assistance, this situation would have been much more difficult to deal with under the poor radio conditions. Well done Gene!

Also, Al on SV Griffith (WDB6077) and Bob KB1DEC on SV Shamal kept the family of Sailabout in Norway advised via telephone. The net also received assistance from Judy and Greg aboard SV Lone Star Love (WDB6076) with some relay assistance.

Considerable thanks to Beryl VP5DB (Provo, T&C Islands), Dale KR4OR (Miami, FL) and Bob K5SIV (Austin, TX). These three stations were on-the-air for most of the incident and they, with the assistance of other net control stations, maintained communication with the USCG and the vessels and relays. There were several other controllers who assisted with the incident and many thanks go out to them. There are just too many to list!

Best regards….

Tom VE3II
A/Mgr. MMSN
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Certainly, not every day on the MMSN is like this. Like good sailors, the Net Control stations are on the air 365 days a year “swabbing the decks and polishing the brightwork.” MMSN also serves vessels at sea by posting their positions and comments to the Net’s ShipTrak ( http://shiptrak.org/ ) service for family and friends to access. The Net also participates in the Marine Observation Program of the National Weather Service as well by relaying “eyewitness” weather reports from vessels at sea. Non-emergency hours are filled with developing relay stations world-wide who can be available to the Net, the U. S. Coast Guard and those in harm’s way when the “Mayday” call comes in.

Coast Guard News would like to say Thank You and Happy 40th Anniversary to the MMSN, “Where Emergency Communication is a Commitment!”

The Maritime Mobile Service Net Part 4

This is the Fourth installment in our 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery

Not all emergencies happen at sea.

It was the fourth night after Hurricane Katrina, and nearly a thousand patients, doctors and staff were trapped at Medical Center Louisiana in downtown New Orleans, surrounded by floodwaters. Outside, reports were grim. People were drowning in their attics. Inside the hospital, there was no running water, no power, no phones and no Internet. Cell phones didn’t work. Each day the authorities said evacuations were about to begin, but nothing happened.

Just when things seemingly couldn’t get worse, , a pregnant woman dragged herself out of the foul, dark water surrounding the center’s Charity Hospital, having managed to swim several blocks in the dark from her home, where she had been trapped. She was in labor and the pain was intensifying. Yet with no running water, no electricity, and no way to clean her up or to sterilize instruments, surgery was out of the question.

Let’s turn the clock back two years. When the two hospitals making up New Orleans’ Medical Center—University and Charity hospitals—decided to set up their emergency communication station two years ago, they looked around for volunteers to run it. Richard Webb NF5B and his wife, Kathleen Anderson KC0HZU, who is also a ham, raised their hands. They set up the station and tested it every week or so.

The night before Katrina hit, Webb pushed Anderson—she uses a wheelchair—to their van and she drove them to the hospital from their small home in suburban Slidell, Louisiana. Pretty much every other vehicle they encountered during that 30-mile trip was heading out of, not into, downtown New Orleans. At the hospital, this unlikely A-Team—a blind man and a woman in a wheelchair—set up their antennas, batteries, radios and gasoline-fired generators, got on the air, tracked the approaching storm and rode it out.

The night the woman in labor swam to the hospital, hospital employee Tim Butcher shook Richard Webb awake and told him that she needed a helicopter. “We have a two-hour window to get her out of here,” Butcher said. Otherwise the mother would probably die, and the baby might, too. Webb ran to his radio, broke in on the Maritime Mobile Service Network and called to relay a message to anyone who could help.

On this evening, the first ham that Webb could reach was a fellow member of the Maritime Mobile Service Network in Texas. The Texas ham contacted a Net member in Cleveland—who was also an auxiliary Coast Guard officer. The Cleveland ham contacted his superior officers, and within a short time the patient was being airlifted to another hospital, where she had a C-section. At last report both mother and baby were doing well.

Webb and his fellow Maritime Net members saved one life that night, Butcher says, maybe two. And no one knows how many other people at the hospital might have died if Webb and his radio had not been there. Butcher’s sure of one thing: “Richard is a real hero.”

Tomorrow: Four Decades and Going Strong

The Maritime Mobile Service Net Part 3

This is the third installment in our 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery

Medical Emergency in the Caribbean

On Wednesday January 30, 2008, at approximately 09:00 EST, SV Silent Passage came to 14.300 MHz and declared an emergency.  At this time the vessel was in the Eastern Caribbean, at approximately 14º N x 062º W.  There were two persons-on-board.  The radio operator was Bev, the Captain’s wife.

Bev’s husband, the vessel’s Captain, had experienced a mild stroke called a TIA.  The Captain had a history of these and Bev had already given him some medication for his condition.  However, he was incapacitated and in need of prompt medical treatment.   Bev said she was not an experienced sailor and also reported that the engines on the vessel did not work.

Members of the Maritime Mobile Service Net and Intercon Net called the USCG and began to arrange for a medical evacuation.  The net members stayed with Bev, rendering assistance by radio and assured her that help was on the way.  They also passed along updated position reports and medical condition reports to the Coast Guard.

As Bev waited for help to arrive members of the Maritime Mobile Service Net instructed Bev what to do (and what not to do) when the rescue helicopter came overhead.  She was also instructed how to stop the boat in the water.

As a result of the nets efforts, shortly after 16:00 EST, the rescue helicopter arrived at the vessels position and evacuated the patient to Guadeloupe.  Immediately thereafter, two French Navy officers boarded the vessel and sailed the boat to Guadeloupe for Bev, who by then was exhausted.

The Captain was treated for his condition in a hospital in Guadeloupe and Bev joined him shortly after landfall.  The Captain is doing well and has recovered from his experience.

The cooperative efforts of the Maritime Mobile Service Net volunteers, the U.S. Coast Guard and the French Navy turned a potential disaster into a very successful rescue.

Tomorrow: Not all emergecies happen at sea.

The Maritime Mobile Service Net Part 2

This is the second in a 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery

Maritime Mobile Service Net members know that piracy didn’t die with Blackbeard!

On Friday, April 13 2007 at 4:45 PM EST (0045z 2007/04/14), a MAYDAY call was made to the net frequency.   The S/V Argonauta was in distress, actively being stalked by a power vessel with 4 males on board.  The ARGONAUTA had made 4 course corrections, with the power vessel performing identical course changes shadowing the S/V Argonauta, and was now beginning to rapidly close the distance.  The S/V Argonauta was declaring a probable sea piracy situation in-process.

The S/V Argonauta is a 43’ C&C sailboat, white with blue trim, with two females on board.

They reported their position as 18° 52.51’N x 67° 52.51’W (in the Mona Straits, Puerto Rico), steering a course of 111°T at 4.7 knots.

The pertinent information was obtained by the net and relayed to the USCG San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The USCG scrambled a vessel and helicopter to the vessel in distress.  Due to propagation, USCG San Juan was unable to communicate to S/V Argonauta on 14.300.  The MMSN acted as a relay station in support of the information exchange between USCG and S/V Argonauta.

After arriving on-site, the USCG determined the vessel shadowing the S/V Argonauta was a migrant vessel, and the vessel was detained.  The S/V Argonauta continued on their voyage without further incident.

Net Control Operators controllers AG4SI, K5MP and K5SIV foiled the modern-day Blackbeards by creating the vital communications link between S/V Argonauta and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Tomorrow: Medical Emergency in the Caribbean

The Maritime Mobile Service Net Part 1

This is the first in a 5 part series on the Maritime Mobile Service Net by John Emery

Forty Years Is A Long, Long Time……

…to keep a volunteer organization alive. Forty years is a much longer time for volunteers to consistently save lives and property, year in and year out.

The Maritime Mobile Service Net is a group of sixty to seventy volunteer licensed amateur radio operators in North and Central America who man an emergency frequency on their radios ten hours each day, 365 days a year.

The MMSN was founded forty years ago (in the Viet Nam War era) by Navy Chaplain Winston Robertson to provide “phone calls” back home for sailors on duty at sea and their families. Needless to say, an amateur radio station on the ship was only one end of the “phone line.” Many amateur radio operators “back home” volunteered their time and stations to complete the calls by connecting their radios to phone lines.

Throughout the intervening forty years, technology has advanced and fewer active duty service personnel use this service as it originally existed. Yet in 2001, thanks to MMSN Net Control Operator Terry Pipitone, KB1FMM, a sailor aboard a US Navy destroyer at sea got to hear his newborn son’s cries for the first time. On August 12, members of the Maritime Mobile Service Net, with cooperation of the Pacific Seafarers Net, put sailor Mark McDonald in touch with his wife, Wendy, in California and set to go into labor at any time. The sailor later was able to chat with his wife and her mom and to listen to his son’s crying.

The mission of the MMSN has expanded over the years. Once every hour amateur radio operators around the world hear the familiar words, “The primary purpose of the net is for handling traffic from maritime mobiles, both pleasure and commercial, and overseas deployed service personnel.  We also assist missionaries and persons working abroad.”

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at some of the other services being provided by the Maritime Mobile Service Net. Until then, we add our congratulations to those volunteers who give their time, equipment and skills to not only those in need of help but to the U.S. Coast Guard in many of its SAR missions.

Tomorrow: Piracy Didn’t Die With Blackbeard