Coastguard News

Chinese state media said on Sunday that personnel on a Philippine ship pointed guns at China's Coast Guard in disputed waters of the South China Sea last month.At least two personnel on the Philippine vessel near the Second Thomas Shoal were carrying guns on deck, pointing them in the direction of China's Coast Guard, CCTV said in a social media post.An accompanying 29-second video appeared to show a masked man momentarily holding up a blurred black object that resembled a rifle.China claims almost the entire South China Sea…

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced an injured crewmember from a dive support vessel about 17 miles south of Pecan Island, Louisiana, on Friday evening.Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders were notified at 8:15 p.m. Friday that a male crewmember in his 30s, aboard the dive support vessel Ms. Kerci, reportedly sustained severe injuries to the leg. Watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew to assist. The Dolphin aircrew arrived on scene…

Firefighters battling for a third day a blaze on a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy recovered on Sunday the body of a passenger listed as missing, Greek authorities said.It is the first reported fatality after rescuers managed to take at least 281 out of 292 passengers and crew to safety from a blaze which broke out on the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia early on Friday.The ferry had been on its way to the Italian port of Brindisi from Igoumenitsa in Greece when it was engulfed…

Seven people died and 64 were rescued when a boat carrying migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan sank on Thursday in eastern Turkey's Lake Van, the governor's office in Bitlis province said.The boat sank after capsizing as it approached Adilcevaz district in Bitlis, which is on the northern shores of Lake Van, the office said in a statement. The accident happened at around 3 a.m. (0000 GMT).The lake is near the border with Iran, from where migrants regularly cross into Turkey, heading west towards Europe.

Ecuador's environment minister, Raul Ledesma, said on Monday that a situation involving a sunken barge in the Galapagos Islands which was carrying 600 gallons of diesel is under control but added that authorities are "very concerned" about the vessel's recovery.The barge sank on Sunday after a crane at the La Predial dock of San Cristobal - the easternmost island of the Galapagos archipelago - fell while unloading cargo, Ecuador's navy said in a statement on Twitter.Located around 1…

Appended are highlights of the piracy and sea robbery situation in Asia in April 2019.

The European Union is considering a six-month extension to its Mediterranean mission, which is aimed at cracking down on smugglers and migration from Africa, but only for air patrols and training Libya's coast guard, according to a draft statement.The current mandate of the so-called Sophia mission expires this week and Italy wants to change it so that its ships are no longer patrolling and picking up people in the sea. Other states such as Germany want to prolong Sophia.A potential compromise discussed by national diplomats in Brussels on Tuesday…

At least 30 migrants are believed to be missing after their boat sank off the western Libyan city of Sabratha this week, a coastguard spokesman said on Thursday.According to a survivor the boat was carrying almost 50 migrants, coastguard spokesman Ayoub Qassem said. The body of one child was recovered and 16 migrants were rescued, he added.Previously, officials had said at least 10 migrants were thought to have died in the incident.Libya's western coast is a main departure point for migrants trying to reach Europe, though numbers have dropped since an Italian-led effort to disrupt smuggling networks and support Libya's coast guard.Reporting by Ahmed Elumami

Strength, Safety and Sustainability are at the heart of this Homeland Security stakeholder’s mission set.For over 30 years, high performance fiber rope manufacturer Phillystran has worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to supply mooring and towing lines. As innovations in fiber rope technology have enabled lighter and stronger ropes, the Coast Guard has not been slow to take advantage of these and other developments.In step with most maritime stakeholders, NAVSEA approved fiber ropes are widely used by the U.S. Coast Guard.

More than 140 refugees and migrants rescued at sea by the 'Lady Sham' ship have landed in Misrata, Libya, and been taken to a detention centre, United Nations aid agencies said on Tuesday."In Libya's current context, where outbreaks of violence and widespread human rights violations prevail, no rescued refugees and migrants should be returned there," Charlie Yaxley, spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, told a briefing.UNHCR denounced "politicking around sea rescues" by European states that have restricted aid groups from conducting missions. More than 200 have already drowned in January and 4,507 have reached Europe by sea despite "bitter cold and great danger", Yaxley said.(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay

The Coast Guard and good Samaritans aboard several commercial vessels are responding to a reported vessel fire on the 650-foot Sincerity Ace 1,800 nautical miles (2071 statute miles) northwest of Oahu on the high seas, Monday.“The distance involved here requires any and all available support, we thank the crews of the commercial vessels for volunteering to assist and have Coast Guard air support en route,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Les Elliott of JRCC Honolulu.One commercial vessel…