ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The Coast Guard is searching this morning for a Chesapeake ship pilot who reportedly fell while boarding a freight ship off Cape Henlopen, at the mouth of the Delaware Bay.
Search and rescue coordinators at Coast Guard Sector Field Office Atlantic City were contacted at about 11 p.m. Sunday and notified that Lynn Deibert, 52, of the Chesapeake Federal Pilots Association, fell into the water while attempting to board the motor vessel Energy Enterprise, a 645-foot U.S. flagged freight ship. Deibert, who was transferring from the pilot vessel Big Stone 5 to the freight ship, was reportedly climbing up the freight ship’s ladder when he fell into the water.
The Coast Guard directed the launch of search crews aboard an HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City, a 47-foot rescue boat and a 41-foot rescue boat from Station Cape May, N.J., and a 41-foot rescue boat from Station Indian River, Del. The Coast Guard Cutter Dependable was also diverted to search the area.
At first light this morning, the Coast Guard directed the launch of an Air Station Atlantic City crew for what would be the third helicopter sortie. An Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., aircrew, aboard an HC-130 Hercules long-range aircraft, was also directed to launch this morning. Current on-scene assets are the search crews aboard the Hercules aircraft and the Cutter Dependable.
It was reported that Deibert was wearing a personal flotation device when he entered the water. Witnesses to the accident threw three life rings into the water.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the accident.
The Coast Guard Cutter Dependable is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May.
