Contractor Goes Missing From Anchor Handler at Norfolk

A search is under way for a missing maintenance worker aboard a tug at the port of Norfolk, Virginia. 

Derrick Fluellen, 33, was working aboard the anchor handler Atlantic Oceanic at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal when he disappeared Saturday afternoon. He was a member of a contracted maintenance crew and was stationed on fire watch, Coast Guard Sector Virginia told local media. 

The Coast Guard is operating on the assumption that Fluellen fell over the side, and it has launched a search and rescue operation accordingly. Sector Virginia dispatched one helicopter and one response boat, accompanied by first responders from local agencies, and is covering a broad swath of the region. Sonar and ROV search assets have also been deployed at the scene. 

Personnel at the terminal have been interviewed, along with Fluellen's coworkers, and the Port Authority is involved in the search process. The Coast Guard also checked cell phone data to see where Fluellen's device was located, and went to Fluellen's listed residence to check with his family. 

The service put out a rare public appeal, asking for anyone with information about Fluellen’s status to call Sector Virginia Command Center at 757-638-6637.

Atlantic Oceanic is a converted anchor handler, reconfigured for offshore wind support operations and operated by a firm of the same name. Last week, Miami police medevaced the master of another vessel in the firm's fleet, Atlantic Power, after he suffered a serious fall. The captain was delivered alive and alert to a local trauma center for treatment.