Coast Guard Briefs: Rapid Response to 3 Recent Incidents

One vessel loses power briefly in San Francisco Bay, another grounds in New York waters and a third sinks about 25 miles north of Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic.

• The Coast Guard, along with commercial tug vessels, and the California Department of Fish and Game responded to a vessel, which lost propulsion on Tuesday night, just outside the Golden Gate Bridge.

At 5:24 p.m., the Petroleum Oil Tank Ship Overseas Cleliamar lost power shortly after transiting under the Golden Gate Bridge while outbound from San Francisco enroute to its next port of call in Ecuador. Within ten minutes, the crew was able to drop the starboard anchor to stabilize the vessel's position, restored power and backed down under its own power. The vessel had previously discharged its cargo during its port call at Martinez and was carrying no cargo at the time of the incident.

Coast Guard Sector San Francisco immediately launched the Coast Guard Cutter Pike, an 87-foot patrol boat from Yerba Buena Island, three response vessels from Coast Guard Station Golden Gate, and a helicopter from Air Station San Francisco. Four tug boats also responded to assist.

At 7:22 p.m., an overflight conducted by the Coast Guard helicopter yielded no sign of oil and a visual sweep of the vessel's hull did not indicate any damage.

The initial assessment by all vessels on scene showed no signs of pollution, and no injuries were reported by any of the 32 crew members onboard. The Coast Guard conducted alcohol testing on the pilot, the master of the vessel, and additional crewmembers with negative results. Additional tests are pending.

Two commercial oil response boats, the Coast Guard Cutter Pike and assets from Station Golden Gate, Station San Francisco, Station Vallejo will remain on scene through the night and into the morning. An overflight will be conducted by the Coast Guard at first light Wednesday morning.

Coast Guard Marine Inspectors and Investigators attended the vessel and will conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident. The Overseas Cleliamar is 741-feet long, 38,653 gross tons, and is registered in the Marshall Islands.

• Heating oil barge runs aground near Execution Rocks.

A barge carrying more than 5 million gallons of home heating oil reportedly struck an unknown object and began taking on water near City Island, N.Y., at approximately 2:30 p.m., 22 January.

No pollution is reported at this time.

The commercial tug Meredith C. Reinauer was pushing a barge to Boston, Mass., when they reportedly struck the object near Execution Rocks, N.Y. The master of the tug contacted the Coast Guard and reported the barge was taking on water in a ballasting void.

The tug brought the barge to anchor off of Hart Island, N.Y. A Coast Guard 41-foot response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Kings Point was quickly on scene to confirm that the vessel was not discharging any oil. Commercial divers from Randive, Inc. were quickly on-scene and conducted an underwater survey of the barge hull.

Miller Environmental Group, a commercial oil spill removal company, has placed a boom around the barge as a precautionary measure and is lightering fuel from it.
The Coast Guard and Nassau County Police are currently enforcing a 200-yard safety zone around the tug and barge while lightering operations take place.

"Coast Guard personnel on-scene will be monitoring this case throughout its entirety," said LT Brandon Link, Command Duty Officer at Coast Guard Sector New York. "So far no pollution has been reported, precautionary measures have been taken and we will ensure all the proper steps are taken to safely secure the cargo."

The investigation into this incident is ongoing.

• Coast Guard rescues 7 mariners off Dominican Republic

MIAMI -- The Coast Guard rescued seven mariners Wednesday afternoon whose freighter sank about 25 miles north of Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic.

The crew of the 196-foot bulk carrier Explorer 1, which included five Dominicans and two Kenyans, notified their ship agent via satellite phone that they were taking on water, and the ship agent contacted Coast Guard search and rescue coordinators around 2:30 p.m.

The Coast Guard immediately launched an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew deployed to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, in support of Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos to assist the mariners.

Once on scene, the Jayhawk crew safely hoisted the seven mariners who had already abandoned ship and were in their life raft.

The mariners were safely transported to Providenciales.