Posts Tagged ‘Sector Juneau’
Southeast Alaska Mass Rescue Exercise 2009
JUNEAU, Alaska - The City of Ketchikan Alaska, Holland America Line, Customs and Border Protection, and Coast Guard Sector Juneau have initiated planning efforts to jointly sponsor a mass rescue exercise simulating the joint response to the evacuation of a cruise ship in Southeast Alaska.
Petersburg Man Missing, Coast Guard Finds Vessel Aground
JUNEAU, Alaska - Coast Guard Sector Juneau received a report at 11:30 a.m. today that a 52 year-old commercial fisherman from Petersburg, Alaska was overdue after he did not return from a halibut fishing trip Thursday.
At 11:50 a.m. a Coast Guard rescue crew from Air Station Sitka out on a routine patrol located the missing man’s fishing vessel, Hurricane, aground with the engines still running near Cape Fanshaw approximately 30 miles northwest of Petersburg. The crew from the MH-60 Jayhawk lowered a rescue swimmer to investigate the vessel. The rescue swimmer searched the vessel and found nobody on board.
The Coast Guard has two helicopters on scene searching the area for the missing mariner. The Coast Guard Cutter Liberty was also launched from Auke Bay to assist in the search. Also participating are a Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel from Petersburg, two Good Samaritan fishing vessels, the Alaska State Troopers, the South East Alaska Dogs Organized for Ground Search (SEADOGS), and a Juneau-based Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter.
Coast Guard, others continue search for Sitka man
JUNEAU, Alaska - Sitka Mountain Rescue, volunteers from Harris Air, the Alaska State Troopers, and the Coast Guard are working together to search for 41-year-old Sitka resident Chuck Thompson, missing since yesterday along the coast of Baranof Island about 16 miles south of Sitka.
A friend and coworker of the missing man called the Coast Guard Sector Juneau Command Center at 6:50 p.m. on Sunday to report that Thompson had not returned on time. Thompson had been staying at a U.S. Forest Service cabin at Seven Fathoms Bay since Thursday and had planned to return to Sitka Sunday morning. He had a VHF/AM radio with him and had been checking in daily with his coworkers from Sitka-based Harris Air as they flew over.
A Harris Air aircraft located Thompson’s empty 16-foot skiff aground on rocks near Yamani Islet Sunday night. The skiff’s running lights were on, the key was in the “ON” position, and the throttle was in the clutch-ahead position. The rudder was hard-over to port, suggesting that the vessel had been turning in circles.
The Coast Guard retrieved the skiff’s GPS unit and conducted a preliminary investigation, finding that the skiff had been exiting Necker Bay when it began making tight circles before drifting aground. The Coast Guard adjusted its search pattern based on the information from the GPS.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and crew transported two two-person teams from Sitka Mountain Rescue to the scene this morning to conduct land searches. A search of the cabin revealed Thompson’s belongings, as well as an inflatable kayak he had been using.
In addition to Coast Guard Air Station Sitka and Sitka Mountain Rescue, the 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter Liberty, which arrived in the area at 9 a.m., is also involved in the ongoing search efforts.
Anyone with information that might help locate the missing man should call the Coast Guard Command Center at (907) 463-2980.
Coast Guard Searching for Overdue Float Plane
JUNEAU, Alaska - A Coast Guard rescue helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka is searching between Juneau and Young Lake for two men believed to be missing after they did not land their float plane at Young Lake yesterday as scheduled.
Brandon and Brian Andrews, both Juneau residents, were last seen leaving Juneau flying a Cesna 182, tail number N930X around 3:45 p.m. The two men were expected to arrive at Young Lake at 4:30 p.m. which is about 20 miles southwest of Juneau.
The son of one of the pilots reported the overdue aircraft to the Coast Guard at 7:35 p.m. Coast Guard Sector Juneau issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and requested Air Station Sitka launch a helicopter to assist in the search.
If anyone has any information concerning the whereabouts of Brandon and Brian Andrews please notify the Coast Guard at 907-463-2991.
Coast Guard Gets An Assist From Good Samaritans in Assisting Vessel
JUNEAU, Alaska (D17 Public Affairs) - The Coast Guard and Good Samaritan vessels assisted a boat taking on water in Admiralty Cove around noon today.
The Coast Guard launched a 47-foot Motor Life Boat and a 25-foot Response Boat from Station Juneau and diverted an HH-60 ‘Jayhawk’ rescue helicopter from Air Station Sitka. Sector Juneau also issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast.
The Good Samaritan vessels White Ghost, Woody, Always and Right Away responded to the broadcast and assisted the Even Keel, a 27-foot vessel with seven people on board.
The Coast Guard response boats arrived on scene, and the 47-foot Motor Life Boat towed the Even Keel to North Douglas Harbor.
No injuries were reported.
Sector Juneau Holds Change of Command
JUNEAU, Alaska (D17 Public Affairs) - Coast Guard Sector Juneau held a Change of Command Ceremony at 10 a.m. today at Station Juneau.
Captain Scott W. Robert relieved Captain Mark S. Guillory of the Sector Juneau command, Rear Admiral Gene Brooks, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District and Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander, Alaska presided over the ceremony.
Guillory retired from the Coast Guard after being relieved and was awarded the Legion of Merit.
Guillory graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1981 and holds a Master of Science degree.
He served aboard two Coast Guard Cutters and the USS Harold E. Holt. After completing flight school he served a helicopter pilot at Air Stations Clearwater and Sitka. He then served as the Coast Guard’s Attaché to the American Embassy in Panama City, Panama. He completed 11 years of flight duty as Deputy Commander Group/Air Station Humboldt Bay, Calif.
Following service as the Coast Guard Liaison Officer to The Department of Defense’s European Command in Stuttgart Germany, Guillory returned to Alaska as part of the District Staff before being selected as Sector Juneau’s first commander.
Captain Guillory’s military awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Coast Guard and Defense Meritorious Service Medals.
Guillory is married to Laura Schmidt of Sitka. They have two children Tava and Razie.
Robert is reporting to Sector Juneau after serving as Chief, Office of Boat Forces. He was responsible to the Assistant Commandant for the allocation, distribution, management, and recapitalization of all Coast Guard Boat Forces consisting of 339 facilities, 1,800 boats, and 9,000 personnel.
Robert graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1983 and holds a Master of Arts degree in Human Resource Management.
He has served in numerous areas around the United States and the world including; the Arabian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Washington D.C., Massachusetts, Florida, Washington state and Alaska.
Captain Robert’s military awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Coast Guard and Navy Achievement Medals, and a Commandant’s Letter of Commendation.
Robert is a native of East Hampton, Conn. and is married to the former Zenaida Lestenkof of the Pribilof Islands. They have three children Zena, Anya and William.