USCG Medevacs Four Tanker Crewmembers With Food Poisoning
On Sunday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a medevac to airlift the crew of a product tanker off Puerto Rico after a reported food-poisoning incident on board.
The tanker Diabelli (IMO 9866964) was operating off Puerto Rico when four crewmembers fell ill. The crew suspected an outbreak of food poisoning, and made a call to the Coast Guard to request assistance. The USCG determined that a helicopter medevac would be the best course of action.
On Sunday morning, as the Diabelli lay at anchor off Vieques, the small island due east of Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard's San Juan rescue center dispatched a Jayhawk helicopter aircrew to rendezvous with the tanker. Despite initial challenges locating a safe spot to conduct the hoist on the small tanker's deck, the Coast Guard team brought all four patients safely aboard and delivered them to the main airport in San Juan, where they were picked up by first responders and taken to a nearby hospital. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Public Health Service provided support, among others.
"The vessel presented a challenging hoisting environment, but through excellent crew resource management, teamwork, and adaptability, we were able to identify the safest and most effective location to conduct the hoists," said Lt. Stan Raymond, Air Station Borinquen co-pilot for this mission. "I’m grateful our crew was able to safely evacuate all four mariners and get them to a higher level of medical care."
Diabelli is a 3,900 dwt product tanker built in 2022 and owned in Germany. She has a clean inspection record.
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AIS data provided by Pole Star Global shows that Diabelli operates on a Caribbean rotation between Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the USVI, BVI and St. Lucia, among other destinations. As of Monday, Diabelli was under way and headed for the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Top image: Diabelli (file image courtesy Henk de Winde / VesselFinder)
